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 120 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 light ________________ burned out.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. spring — the season
  3. root — of a word
  4. field — for sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. current — happening now
  7. field — a subject
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. spring — of water
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mine — for digging
  17. bulb — for light
  18. current — of water
  19. current — electric
  20. field — farmland
  21. root — of a plant
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. root — the cause

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