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: vault · stand · cold · pitcher · cell · capital · press · court

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. press — to push
  3. court — of a king
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. capital — money
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. vault — a safe
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. capital — a city
  13. cell — a phone
  14. court — for sport
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stand — to bear
  18. court — of law
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. press — a publisher
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. cell — in biology
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cell — in a prison

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