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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bass — the fish
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. bass — low music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ball — a dance
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. capital — a city
  10. track — a song
  11. track — to keep track
  12. rush — hurry
  13. track — a path
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kick — in football
  21. capital — money
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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