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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. track — a path
  6. cold — an illness
  7. field — a subject
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. track — to keep track
  10. kid — to tease
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. field — for sport
  13. track — a song
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. drill — army training
  16. tube — the underground
  17. drill — the tool
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. tube — a container
  20. kid — child
  21. drill — a practice
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. nail — for a hammer

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