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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cell — a phone
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. game — a match
  9. capital — a city
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. capital — money
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. mate — to breed
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cell — in biology
  18. tube — a container
  19. game — wild animals
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. tube — the underground
  24. content — videos and posts

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