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: tube · cold · capital · squash · cell · degree · march · key

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tube — a container
  7. key — in music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. degree — from a university
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. key — the most important part
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tube — the underground
  16. key — for a lock
  17. capital — money
  18. degree — temperature
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. degree — an amount
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. march — the month
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cold — an illness

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