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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. toast — bread
  3. mug — a cup
  4. field — farmland
  5. cold — an illness
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mug — a face
  8. field — for sport
  9. fall — to drop
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. fall — to drop
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fall — the season
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wound — an injury
  22. field — a subject
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mug — to rob

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