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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. wound — an injury
  4. row — a line
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. content — happy
  7. capital — a city
  8. pitch — completely
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. capital — money
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. dip — to sink
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. file — a tool
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. bear — the animal
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. wound — an injury
  23. file — a document
  24. bear — the animal

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