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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spell — magic
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. wind — moving air
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. cue — for pool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. cue — a hint
  12. last — finally
  13. field — for sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. cue — a signal
  17. saw — the tool
  18. field — farmland
  19. spell — a short time
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spell — letters
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. game — wild animals
  24. field — a subject

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