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: hand · capital · stock · snap · pitcher · field · mouse · net

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — a subject
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — after costs
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — shares
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. hand — in cards
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. field — for sport
  23. hand — help
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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