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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. capital — money
  4. field — farmland
  5. club — for golf
  6. march — music
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. capital — a city
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. club — for dancing
  13. march — the month
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. club — a group
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a great time
  19. branch — a division
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. field — for sport
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. march — the month
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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