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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wind — moving air
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. field — a subject
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. field — for sport
  9. pop — soda
  10. rule — a law
  11. club — for golf
  12. field — farmland
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cell — a phone
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. club — a group
  20. pop — music
  21. cell — in biology
  22. stock — goods
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rule — government

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