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 · band · game · file · field · dip · cap · bowl

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. field — a subject
  6. band — a music group
  7. capital — a city
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cap — of ice
  12. game — a match
  13. cap — a hat
  14. game — wild animals
  15. field — farmland
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. file — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. file — a document
  21. dip — to sink
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. capital — money
  24. field — for sport

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