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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. game — a match
  3. present — a gift
  4. field — farmland
  5. object — an aim
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. object — a thing
  8. band — a music group
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. field — for sport
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. key — in music
  14. present — the time now
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — a line
  17. game — wild animals
  18. field — a subject
  19. key — the most important part
  20. object — to protest
  21. present — there
  22. mine — for digging
  23. key — for a lock
  24. row — to paddle

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