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: capital · stem · shower · march · hide · fall · last · pitch

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. pitch — completely
  4. fall — to drop
  5. capital — a city
  6. fall — to drop
  7. shower — to wash
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. march — the month
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. capital — money
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. stem — to come from
  15. fall — the season
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. last — finally
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. shower — rain
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. march — the month
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. march — music

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