ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · coach · straw · snap · tear · field · vault · game

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. capital — money
  7. tear — to rip
  8. field — a subject
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. game — wild animals
  11. snap — to click
  12. field — for sport
  13. vault — a safe
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. tear — from crying
  17. game — a match
  18. field — farmland
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. capital — a city
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. tear — from crying

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com