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 giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. capital — a city
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. file — a document
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. pound — a weight
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. shower — to wash
  20. content — happy
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. content — the amount
  24. squash — the sport

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