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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. court — for sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mine — for digging
  8. court — of law
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wind — moving air
  11. net — in sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rash — a series
  16. net — after costs
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. degree — from a university
  19. land — ground
  20. capital — money
  21. rash — hasty
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. net — for catching
  24. land — to come down

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