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: mouse · drill · cold · shower · scale · capital · present · ground

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. drill — the tool
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. shower — rain
  5. ground — a position
  6. shower — to wash
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. ground — the earth
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. present — there
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. drill — a practice
  14. ground — crushed
  15. drill — army training
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. scale — in music
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. present — a gift
  22. cold — not warm
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — size or range

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