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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. rest — a break
  9. capital — money
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. clip — for paper
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a match
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. capital — a city
  19. roll — a list
  20. clip — a video
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. pound — a weight
  24. roll — a cake

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