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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wind — moving air
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. file — a line of people
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bass — low music
  11. fall — to drop
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bass — the fish
  18. file — a tool
  19. ground — the earth
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. file — a document
  23. kid — child
  24. fall — 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