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

Word bank: bark · capital · pass · branch · band · cold · wound · object

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. object — to protest
  5. object — a thing
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. capital — money
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. object — an aim
  11. branch — a division
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. band — a music group
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. wound — an injury
  16. capital — a city
  17. pass — a permit
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — to shout
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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