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: season · band · date · drill · spell · spring · capital · file

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. spell — letters
  6. spring — a coil
  7. season — of the year
  8. spell — a short time
  9. file — a document
  10. drill — a practice
  11. file — a line of people
  12. spell — magic
  13. drill — army training
  14. capital — a city
  15. file — a tool
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. drill — the tool
  18. capital — money
  19. spring — the season
  20. date — the fruit
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. date — on the calendar

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