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 · stock · capital · content · fork · race · cell · lie

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fork — in a road
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. race — a contest
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. lie — to recline
  11. capital — a city
  12. content — the amount
  13. race — the arms race
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. content — happy
  16. race — humankind
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cell — in biology
  19. stock — shares
  20. tear — to rip
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. stock — goods
  23. capital — money
  24. lie — an untruth

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