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: chip · land · drill · spell · capital · fan · trunk · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. spell — a short time
  4. land — to come down
  5. drill — a practice
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. land — ground
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. capital — money
  10. chip — for betting
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. chip — to eat
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. land — a country
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. capital — a city
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — letters
  24. capital — a big letter

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