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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — a tin
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — an illness
  9. clip — a video
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. field — for sport
  20. can — to be able to
  21. clip — for paper
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. toast — bread
  24. coach — a trainer

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