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 120 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 took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. shower — rain
  3. stock — goods
  4. deal — to handle
  5. content — the amount
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bat — the animal
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stock — shares
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. capital — money
  14. content — happy
  15. shower — to wash
  16. hand — in cards
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. capital — a city
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. tear — from crying
  24. deal — an agreement

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