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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. scale — size or range
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. capital — a city
  9. band — a ring
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. file — a line of people
  12. scale — in music
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. kick — in football
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. band — a music group
  23. squash — the sport
  24. tear — to rip

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