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 116 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — finally
  3. dip — to sink
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — help
  10. root — the cause
  11. capital — a city
  12. root — of a plant
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. field — farmland
  16. root — of a word
  17. field — for sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hand — in cards

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