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: kick · perch · deal · cold · field · tube · capital · fall

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kick — in football
  5. capital — money
  6. field — farmland
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. perch — the fish
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tube — the underground
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. capital — a city
  17. field — a subject
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. deal — to handle
  20. field — for sport
  21. tube — a container
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. fall — the season
  24. perch — for a bird

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