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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. field — a subject
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a cake
  9. mate — a friend
  10. rule — a law
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. field — farmland
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. roll — a list
  20. field — for sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — in a road
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fork — to eat with

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