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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. content — the amount
  3. court — of law
  4. capital — money
  5. tube — a container
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — for sport
  8. mate — a friend
  9. tube — the underground
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. root — of a plant
  13. mate — to breed
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — happy
  16. mate — a partner
  17. root — of a word
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. row — to paddle
  22. root — the cause
  23. court — of a king
  24. row — a line

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