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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. track — a path
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bat — the animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pop — music
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — money
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. track — a song
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. pop — soda
  19. tear — to rip
  20. track — to keep track
  21. cold — not warm
  22. capital — a city
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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