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: club · cue · squash · file · net · current · cold · capital

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. club — for golf
  4. current — happening now
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. cold — not warm
  8. club — a group
  9. net — after costs
  10. cue — a signal
  11. cue — a hint
  12. current — of water
  13. cold — an illness
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. capital — money
  16. squash — to crush
  17. cue — for pool
  18. club — for dancing
  19. file — a tool
  20. capital — a city
  21. squash — the sport
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. capital — a big letter

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