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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. land — to come down
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. march — music
  5. scale — in music
  6. march — the month
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. capital — money
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — a city
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. march — the month
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. pop — music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. land — a country

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