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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. cold — not warm
  3. degree — from a university
  4. foot — a measure
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. degree — an amount
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wake — a trail
  18. last — final
  19. degree — temperature
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cold — an illness

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