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: cold · straw · roll · bear · last · capital · mine · rule

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. bear — the animal
  10. capital — money
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. last — to go on
  13. roll — a list
  14. rule — a law
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rule — government
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. last — finally
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. last — final
  22. bear — the animal
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. roll — a cake

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