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 116 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: hand · court · capital · craft · wound · leaves · mine · stock

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. mine — for digging
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. court — for sport
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. craft — a skill
  10. craft — boats
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — of law
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. stock — goods
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. stock — shares
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. capital — a city
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. stock — a soup base

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