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 124 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 · field · shower · rush · date · pit · land · wind

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pit — a hole
  3. land — ground
  4. field — farmland
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. land — a country
  9. date — the fruit
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. capital — a city
  14. rush — hurry
  15. pit — in a race
  16. field — a subject
  17. land — to come down
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. wind — moving air

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