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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. ground — crushed
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. field — for sport
  5. net — for catching
  6. march — music
  7. net — in sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. dip — to sink
  10. field — a subject
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. ground — the earth
  13. march — the month
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. cold — not warm
  17. net — after costs
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ground — a position
  21. march — the month
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. foot — a measure

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