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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. rest — a break
  4. capital — money
  5. mug — a cup
  6. degree — an amount
  7. deal — to handle
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. chest — of your body
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — to paddle
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chest — a box
  18. degree — temperature
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mug — to rob
  21. row — a line
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — a city
  24. mug — a face

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