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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. capital — money
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stock — shares
  5. last — final
  6. last — to go on
  7. branch — a division
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. current — electric
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. current — of water
  12. chair — a leader
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. last — finally
  15. race — the arms race
  16. stock — goods
  17. capital — a city
  18. cold — an illness
  19. race — humankind
  20. current — happening now
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cold — the Cold War

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