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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — a video
  4. capital — a city
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. clip — to cut
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bat — the animal
  14. game — wild animals
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. capital — money
  24. pound — a weight

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