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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rock — a stone
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. capital — a city
  9. land — ground
  10. row — a line
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. row — to paddle
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. chest — a box
  23. fall — the season
  24. stem — to come from

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