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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · fork · rest · present · kid · pitcher

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. present — there
  3. capital — money
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. present — the time now
  6. kid — child
  7. rest — a break
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. present — a gift
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. fork — in a road

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