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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — a hat
  7. field — farmland
  8. pop — to visit
  9. lie — to recline
  10. capital — a city
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. field — for sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. capital — money
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — a subject
  20. tear — from crying
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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