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: land · capital · shower · vault · cabinet · field · spring · file

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. file — a document
  4. field — farmland
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. spring — the season
  8. file — a tool
  9. land — to come down
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. shower — to wash
  12. capital — money
  13. vault — a safe
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. file — a line of people
  17. land — a country
  18. shower — rain
  19. capital — a city
  20. spring — a coil
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. spring — of water

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