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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cold — not warm
  4. march — the month
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pop — music
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. capital — a city
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. pop — to visit
  12. march — music
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. kid — child
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. capital — money
  24. march — the month

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