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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. lean — to bend
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. band — a ring
  5. file — a document
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. net — after costs
  8. field — a subject
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. net — in sport
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. field — farmland
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. lean — thin
  20. field — for sport
  21. file — a tool
  22. band — a music group
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. file — a line of people

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