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

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. staff — a stick
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. stock — shares
  5. date — the fruit
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — money
  8. march — the month
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. court — of a king
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — for paper
  13. stock — goods
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. march — the month
  16. staff — employees
  17. court — for sport
  18. rule — government
  19. march — music
  20. rule — a law
  21. staff — employees
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. clip — a video

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