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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. root — of a plant
  3. chair — a leader
  4. clip — to cut
  5. field — a subject
  6. current — happening now
  7. root — of a word
  8. current — electric
  9. field — farmland
  10. current — of water
  11. present — a gift
  12. clip — a video
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. kid — to tease
  15. field — for sport
  16. present — the time now
  17. kid — child
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. clip — for paper
  23. root — the cause
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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