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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. root — of a word
  3. field — a subject
  4. mate — a friend
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. court — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. swing — to play on
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. court — of law
  17. band — a music group
  18. root — of a plant
  19. mate — a partner
  20. root — the cause
  21. court — of a king
  22. mate — to breed
  23. field — for sport
  24. dip — to sink

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