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: bass · ball · prune · sharp · cell · capital · tear · scale

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bass — the fish
  5. capital — money
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cell — in biology
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cell — a phone
  10. capital — a city
  11. scale — size or range
  12. tear — to rip
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. tear — from crying
  15. prune — to trim
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bass — low music
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. scale — in music
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. cell — in a prison

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