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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fine — all right
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. tear — from crying
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. pop — to visit
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. pop — soda
  10. capital — a city
  11. land — ground
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. pop — music
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. capital — money
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. land — a country
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. land — to come down
  24. fine — high quality

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