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: bay · capital · cold · prune · key · march · shower · kid

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. capital — money
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. shower — rain
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. kid — to tease
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — child
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — in music
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. march — music
  22. prune — to trim
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cold — not warm

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