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: tear · spring · bowl · capital · root · degree · shower · leaves

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spring — of water
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. spring — the season
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a city
  7. degree — an amount
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — the cause
  10. degree — temperature
  11. tear — to rip
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. root — of a plant
  18. spring — a coil
  19. degree — from a university
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. shower — rain

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