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 116 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. row — to paddle
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. capital — a city
  9. wound — an injury
  10. row — a line
  11. stock — shares
  12. fine — high quality
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. capital — money
  16. stock — goods
  17. wound — an injury
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. fine — all right
  20. cold — not warm
  21. field — farmland
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. cold — the Cold War

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