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: court · branch · fall · capital · bowl · wound · saw · tear

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  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. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tear — from crying
  7. court — of a king
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. wound — an injury
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. court — for sport
  18. saw — the tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. branch — a division
  22. fall — the season
  23. wound — an injury
  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