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: mate · capital · wind · ball · patient · file · present · rule

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. mate — a friend
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. capital — money
  5. rule — a law
  6. file — a line of people
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. present — a gift
  10. capital — a city
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ball — a great time
  13. present — the time now
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. mate — to breed
  16. ball — a dance
  17. rule — government
  18. wind — moving air
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. mate — a partner
  21. file — a document
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. file — a tool

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