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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. capital — a city
  3. wax — to grow
  4. field — for sport
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. kid — to tease
  7. field — farmland
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. spell — magic
  11. chip — to eat
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. spell — a short time
  15. field — a subject
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. scale — size or range
  18. chip — for betting
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. spell — letters
  21. pitch — completely
  22. kid — child
  23. capital — money
  24. pitch — a sports field

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