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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. kid — child
  3. march — the month
  4. ground — crushed
  5. land — to come down
  6. present — a gift
  7. march — the month
  8. drill — the tool
  9. track — a song
  10. capital — money
  11. present — there
  12. land — a country
  13. drill — army training
  14. capital — a city
  15. land — ground
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. present — the time now
  19. drill — a practice
  20. track — to keep track
  21. track — a path
  22. ground — the earth
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. ground — a position

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