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: nail · stock · net · rush · chest · capital · spring · temple

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. stock — shares
  3. capital — money
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. spring — the season
  7. capital — a city
  8. chest — of your body
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. spring — of water
  11. net — after costs
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. spring — a coil
  16. chest — of your body
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. stock — goods
  24. chest — a box

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