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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mate — a partner
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. fall — the season
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chair — a leader
  18. pass — a permit
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. cold — an illness

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