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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. clip — for paper
  3. field — a subject
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mug — a face
  8. field — for sport
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. root — of a plant
  11. cap — a hat
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. root — the cause
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. bat — the animal
  16. root — of a word
  17. mug — a cup
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. game — a match
  21. cap — a lid
  22. mug — to rob
  23. field — farmland
  24. bat — for baseball

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