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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stand — to bear
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. mine — for digging
  8. date — the fruit
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. clip — a video
  14. saw — the tool
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wound — an injury
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. clip — for paper
  19. field — farmland
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. field — for sport
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. saw — the tool

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