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 · hide · stock · current · pop · date · land · bat

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. land — a country
  5. pop — soda
  6. land — to come down
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. date — the fruit
  9. land — ground
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. stock — shares
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. current — electric
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pop — music
  20. stock — goods
  21. current — of water
  22. capital — money
  23. pop — to visit
  24. current — happening now

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