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 120 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. pound — a weight
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. row — to paddle
  9. rash — a series
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. rash — hasty
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. row — a line
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. cold — not warm
  21. capital — money
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ruler — for measuring

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