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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. march — music
  5. clip — for paper
  6. capital — a city
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. march — the month
  9. bank — of a river
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. capital — money
  12. bank — for money
  13. chest — of your body
  14. march — the month
  15. chest — a box
  16. clip — a video
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bank — for money
  19. bear — the animal
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bear — the animal
  23. clip — to cut
  24. saw — the tool

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