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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. net — after costs
  5. drill — the tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. drill — army training
  8. lean — to bend
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. lean — thin
  11. drill — a practice
  12. mine — for digging
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. row — to paddle
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. row — a line
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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