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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. field — farmland
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. field — a subject
  6. snap — to click
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. degree — from a university
  12. chest — of your body
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — of law
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — not warm
  18. field — for sport
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. mark — a grade
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. mark — a trace
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — an amount

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