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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. prune — to trim
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. field — for sport
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cell — a phone
  16. tube — a container
  17. dip — to sink
  18. cell — in biology
  19. wake — a trail
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tube — the underground
  22. prune — to trim
  23. hand — help
  24. wound — an injury

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