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: cold · bat · clip · pitcher · capital · bear · rest · can

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. capital — a city
  3. rest — a break
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bat — the animal
  6. can — to be able to
  7. capital — money
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — a video
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. rest — what's left
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. can — a tin
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. clip — for paper
  23. can — a tin
  24. rest — what's left

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