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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. kid — to tease
  3. stock — goods
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mine — for digging
  8. chest — a box
  9. field — a subject
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. fork — in a road
  12. kid — child
  13. current — electric
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. current — happening now
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. current — of water
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. stock — shares
  21. field — farmland
  22. fall — the season
  23. field — for sport
  24. stock — a soup base

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