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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. field — a subject
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — hasty
  7. chest — of your body
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. field — farmland
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wind — moving air
  14. present — a gift
  15. present — there
  16. wind — moving air
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. field — for sport
  19. chest — a box
  20. present — the time now
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rash — a series

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