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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wound — an injury
  3. current — electric
  4. cap — a hat
  5. snap — to click
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. current — of water
  8. cap — of ice
  9. field — for sport
  10. dip — to sink
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. board — a committee
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — a subject
  18. capital — money
  19. current — happening now
  20. board — to get on
  21. cap — a lid
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. capital — a city

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