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 120 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pop — music
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bark — to shout
  5. clip — to cut
  6. stand — to bear
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. pop — to visit
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. capital — money
  13. clip — for paper
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. cold — not warm
  21. clip — a video
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. pop — soda
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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