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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. lean — to bend
  3. content — happy
  4. lean — thin
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. chest — of your body
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. field — a subject
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. chest — of your body
  11. field — farmland
  12. row — a line
  13. ground — a position
  14. row — to paddle
  15. content — the amount
  16. bass — the fish
  17. ground — the earth
  18. field — for sport
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bass — low music
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. chest — a box

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