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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. face — to point toward
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. clip — for paper
  6. court — of a king
  7. field — farmland
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kid — child
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. face — to confront
  13. court — for sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. court — of law
  16. field — for sport
  17. band — a music group
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. scale — size or range
  20. face — part of the head
  21. fall — the season
  22. scale — in music
  23. fall — to drop
  24. field — a subject

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