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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. field — a subject
  3. stock — shares
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pitch — completely
  6. rule — a law
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. face — part of the head
  10. stock — goods
  11. field — farmland
  12. content — happy
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. capital — money
  17. field — for sport
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — to confront
  21. rule — government
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. content — the amount
  24. capital — a city

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