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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. pop — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — the month
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. pop — to visit
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. rock — a stone
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rock — music
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. march — music
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pop — soda

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