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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. net — after costs
  3. field — farmland
  4. net — in sport
  5. current — of water
  6. current — happening now
  7. chest — of your body
  8. file — a document
  9. current — electric
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tube — a container
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. file — a tool
  17. net — for catching
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. file — a line of people
  21. field — for sport
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. field — a subject
  24. chest — a box

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