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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. rest — a break
  3. object — to protest
  4. cell — in biology
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. field — a subject
  7. ball — a great time
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. clip — for paper
  10. object — an aim
  11. shower — to wash
  12. field — for sport
  13. shower — rain
  14. clip — a video
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cell — a phone
  20. rush — hurry
  21. object — a thing
  22. rest — what's left
  23. ball — a dance
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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