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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. squash — the sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. toast — bread
  12. field — farmland
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — for sport
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. squash — to crush
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. degree — an amount
  23. fork — in a road
  24. cold — not warm

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