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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. game — a match
  3. field — farmland
  4. track — a song
  5. rest — a break
  6. row — a line
  7. rest — what's left
  8. root — the cause
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rest — what's left
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. game — wild animals
  13. field — a subject
  14. root — of a word
  15. field — for sport
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. track — a path
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cold — not warm
  23. root — of a plant
  24. row — a quarrel

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