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 120 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: capital · board · bat · rule · game · mate · shower · kick

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. board — a committee
  4. shower — rain
  5. capital — a city
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. mate — to breed
  11. game — wild animals
  12. board — to get on
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mate — a friend
  16. rule — a law
  17. kick — in football
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. game — a match
  21. capital — money
  22. rule — government
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. shower — to wash

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