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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. court — for sport
  3. shower — rain
  4. capital — money
  5. fall — the season
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. shower — to wash
  8. court — of law
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. capital — a city
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. court — of a king
  22. rush — hurry
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mouse — for a computer

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