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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — money
  9. saw — the tool
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bound — certain
  12. cold — an illness
  13. capital — a city
  14. rule — a law
  15. bound — tied together
  16. rule — government
  17. land — a country
  18. scale — in music
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bound — obliged
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. saw — the tool
  24. land — ground

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