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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. press — a publisher
  3. capital — a city
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. press — newspapers
  7. mate — a friend
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. content — the amount
  10. sharp — clever
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cold — an illness
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mate — a partner
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. content — happy
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — a line
  21. capital — money
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. press — to push
  24. sharp — with an edge

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