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: mark · wake · clip · coach · pit · capital · present · cold

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. present — the time now
  5. present — there
  6. capital — money
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. clip — a video
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wake — a trail
  13. mark — a trace
  14. present — a gift
  15. mark — a grade
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pit — in a race
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. capital — a city
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. pit — a hole
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cold — not warm

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