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: tear · club · trunk · game · shower · capital · row · wind

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. tear — from crying
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. club — a group
  5. wind — moving air
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. row — a line
  10. capital — a city
  11. club — for dancing
  12. row — to paddle
  13. tear — to rip
  14. shower — rain
  15. capital — money
  16. game — wild animals
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wind — moving air
  20. club — for golf
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. tear — from crying
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. game — a kind of play

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