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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. present — a gift
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. last — to go on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. swing — music
  9. cold — an illness
  10. swing — to play on
  11. file — a tool
  12. field — a subject
  13. present — the time now
  14. file — a document
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. field — farmland
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. present — there
  20. last — final
  21. last — finally
  22. stem — to come from
  23. file — a line of people
  24. swing — in golf

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