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 116 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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. cell — a phone
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. row — to paddle
  5. capital — money
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. march — the month
  8. wake — a trail
  9. row — a line
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. mine — for digging
  13. tube — a container
  14. march — the month
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. cell — in biology
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. march — music
  22. fork — in a road
  23. capital — a city
  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