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 116 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. last — to go on
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. cell — a phone
  7. saw — the tool
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wound — an injury
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in biology
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. field — farmland
  18. saw — the tool
  19. sharp — clever
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. mine — for digging

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