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 · court · ball · dip · mug · cold · content · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cold — an illness
  3. court — for sport
  4. mug — to rob
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. tear — to rip
  8. mug — a face
  9. content — happy
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. ball — a great time
  13. court — of a king
  14. capital — a city
  15. cold — not warm
  16. content — the amount
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. dip — to sink
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. ball — a dance
  23. mug — a cup
  24. court — of law

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