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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. field — farmland
  3. clip — a video
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. kid — to tease
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — a subject
  10. kid — child
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. field — for sport
  13. stem — to come from
  14. clip — for paper
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. capital — a city
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. capital — money
  21. deal — to handle
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. stem — a stem cell

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