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: capital · fan · field · present · bat · spell · content · mouse

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. present — the time now
  3. spell — letters
  4. content — the amount
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — farmland
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bat — the animal
  9. content — happy
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. present — a gift
  12. capital — money
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. field — a subject
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. spell — a short time
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. present — there
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. capital — a city
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. field — for sport
  24. mouse — the animal

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