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 116 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. march — music
  3. game — wild animals
  4. field — farmland
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. march — the month
  7. can — a tin
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spring — the season
  10. can — to be able to
  11. club — for golf
  12. spring — a coil
  13. march — the month
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. game — a match
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. spring — of water
  22. club — a group
  23. can — a tin
  24. club — for dancing

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