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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. game — a match
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rash — a series
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. capital — a city
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hand — help
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pitch — completely
  14. game — wild animals
  15. hand — in cards
  16. shower — rain
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. capital — money

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