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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. current — happening now
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. current — electric
  5. sharp — clever
  6. file — a line of people
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. spring — of water
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. season — of the year
  15. degree — temperature
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. current — of water
  18. degree — from a university
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. season — in sport
  22. capital — a city
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. degree — an amount

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