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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  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. content — happy
  2. track — a path
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. wound — an injury
  5. track — a song
  6. foot — a measure
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. row — a line
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. row — to paddle
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. tube — a container
  15. field — farmland
  16. track — to keep track
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — the underground
  22. content — the amount
  23. foot — part of the body
  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