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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. land — ground
  6. spring — the season
  7. land — a country
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. spring — of water
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. land — to come down
  14. rash — a series
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rash — hasty
  24. field — for sport

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