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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. club — for golf
  4. mine — for digging
  5. hand — help
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. tear — from crying
  10. club — a group
  11. bulb — for light
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cell — a phone
  15. staff — employees
  16. tear — to rip
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. staff — employees
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. staff — a stick
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. field — a subject
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cell — in biology

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