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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. spell — letters
  3. last — finally
  4. tube — the underground
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. clip — a video
  8. tube — a container
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. last — final
  13. spell — magic
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. capital — money
  19. spring — of water
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. spring — the season
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pitch — completely
  24. capital — a city

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