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: capital · wind · fall · pitcher · toast · bark · squash · straw

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. capital — money
  9. wind — moving air
  10. toast — bread
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. squash — to crush
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wind — moving air
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fall — the season
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. capital — a city
  21. bark — to shout
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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