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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. charge — electricity
  5. charge — in control
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. capital — a city
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. charge — a price
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cell — a phone
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. prune — to trim
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cell — in biology
  22. capital — money
  23. sharp — clever
  24. tear — from crying

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