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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hand — in cards
  3. foot — a measure
  4. roll — a list
  5. roll — a cake
  6. spring — of water
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. capital — a city
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. tear — from crying
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — soda
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. capital — money
  17. tear — to rip
  18. hand — help
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pop — to visit
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. spring — the season

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