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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. hand — help
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. field — farmland
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wake — a trail
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. sharp — clever
  10. march — music
  11. board — to get on
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. march — the month
  15. board — a committee
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. march — the month
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. cell — a phone
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. cell — in biology
  24. fan — to cool the air

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