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: ball · shower · file · cold · capital · cue · pitcher · firm

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. firm — steady
  6. ball — a great time
  7. cue — for pool
  8. firm — a company
  9. cue — a signal
  10. file — a document
  11. cue — a hint
  12. shower — rain
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. shower — to wash
  15. file — a tool
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. firm — decided
  20. file — a line of people
  21. cold — an illness
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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