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: squash · leaves · capital · court · safe · spring · cold · stem

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. capital — a city
  4. spring — the season
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. spring — a coil
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spring — of water
  10. squash — to crush
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. squash — the sport
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. cold — an illness
  18. court — of law
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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