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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. net — in sport
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — in music
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. net — for catching
  10. wound — an injury
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — the earth
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — clever
  16. capital — money
  17. pop — music
  18. ground — crushed
  19. pop — soda
  20. wound — an injury
  21. capital — a city
  22. scale — size or range
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pop — to visit

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