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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. rush — hurry
  3. file — a tool
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. chip — to eat
  9. lie — to recline
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bore — to drill
  13. capital — money
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. snap — to click
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. bore — to tire
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. lie — an untruth

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