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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. capital — a city
  3. land — to come down
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. shower — rain
  9. land — a country
  10. shower — to wash
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. scale — in music
  13. land — ground
  14. scale — size or range
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a signal
  19. capital — money
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cue — a hint
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. game — a match
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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