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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. root — of a plant
  6. spell — a short time
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. kid — child
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. root — the cause
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — magic
  15. capital — money
  16. root — of a word
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. march — music
  19. branch — a division
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. capital — a city
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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