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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. cold — not warm
  4. season — of the year
  5. present — there
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. land — ground
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wound — an injury
  16. capital — a city
  17. land — to come down
  18. present — the time now
  19. season — in sport
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. capital — money
  23. present — a gift
  24. cold — the Cold War

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