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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. lie — to recline
  3. bat — the animal
  4. last — to go on
  5. spell — magic
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. prune — to trim
  10. row — a line
  11. band — a music group
  12. capital — a city
  13. spell — letters
  14. last — finally
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. last — final
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. capital — money
  24. row — to paddle

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