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: file · spring · capital · pound · cold · cell · court · saw

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. spring — a coil
  4. court — of law
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pound — a weight
  7. court — for sport
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a document
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. spring — the season
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cell — a phone
  18. capital — a city
  19. file — a tool
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. court — of a king
  22. capital — money
  23. spring — of water
  24. cell — in biology

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