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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. game — a match
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. chest — a box
  6. field — for sport
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. field — farmland
  11. cell — in biology
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. pound — a weight
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fork — in a road
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. field — a subject
  19. plane — a tool
  20. hand — help
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. hand — in cards

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