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: cold · fork · wound · pitcher · nail · date · capital · cue

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. capital — a city
  4. cue — a hint
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — money
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. cue — a signal
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. wound — an injury
  16. date — the fruit
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wound — an injury

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