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: squash · capital · pop · rest · mate · shower · present · field

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. field — for sport
  3. present — there
  4. pop — music
  5. mate — a friend
  6. field — farmland
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. capital — a city
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pop — to visit
  11. field — a subject
  12. pop — soda
  13. squash — to crush
  14. rest — what's left
  15. present — the time now
  16. rest — a break
  17. shower — to wash
  18. capital — money
  19. squash — the sport
  20. mate — a partner
  21. shower — rain
  22. mate — to breed
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. squash — the vegetable

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