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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. content — happy
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. saw — the tool
  7. band — a ring
  8. swing — in golf
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. swing — music
  12. hand — in cards
  13. saw — the tool
  14. swing — to play on
  15. hand — help
  16. field — farmland
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. spell — magic
  20. branch — a division
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. spell — a short time
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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