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: patient · capital · cold · land · chair · pitcher · prune · pit

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. prune — to trim
  4. land — a country
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. land — to come down
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. capital — a city
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. pit — in a race
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. prune — to trim
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chair — a leader
  20. capital — money
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. land — ground

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