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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. net — after costs
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. game — a match
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. spring — the season
  9. net — for catching
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stock — shares
  12. game — wild animals
  13. net — in sport
  14. spring — of water
  15. ball — a great time
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stock — goods
  19. staff — employees
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mine — for digging
  22. staff — a stick
  23. spring — a coil
  24. capital — a city

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