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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. field — a subject
  5. last — finally
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. last — to go on
  9. ground — a position
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — to be able to
  12. swing — to play on
  13. ground — the earth
  14. swing — in golf
  15. field — for sport
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. lie — to recline
  18. cold — not warm
  19. can — a tin
  20. ground — crushed
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. field — farmland
  24. swing — music

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