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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  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. perch — for a bird
  2. field — a subject
  3. root — of a plant
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. chest — of your body
  6. root — the cause
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. root — of a word
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wind — moving air
  13. plane — a tool
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. chest — a box
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. field — farmland
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. field — for sport
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  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