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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. fine — all right
  4. chip — to eat
  5. stem — to come from
  6. hand — in cards
  7. capital — a city
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. chip — for betting
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. capital — money
  14. fine — high quality
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. hand — help
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. bark — to shout
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. hand — part of the body

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