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 116 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: file · capital · pitcher · hand · wind · shower · fan · last

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wind — moving air
  7. last — finally
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. file — a line of people
  11. capital — a city
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. last — final
  14. file — a tool
  15. last — to go on
  16. hand — help
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. shower — rain
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. file — a document
  22. shower — to wash
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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