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: fall · march · cell · staff · shower · capital · chest · pop

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. fall — the season
  3. pop — music
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. staff — employees
  6. fall — to drop
  7. staff — a stick
  8. pop — soda
  9. capital — money
  10. march — the month
  11. staff — employees
  12. capital — a city
  13. march — music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. chest — a box
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — a phone
  18. shower — rain
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cell — in biology
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. chest — of your body

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