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 water is too ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. prune — to trim
  3. ball — a dance
  4. craft — boats
  5. cold — an illness
  6. field — for sport
  7. game — a match
  8. land — to come down
  9. field — farmland
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — a skill
  14. suit — clothes
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. game — wild animals
  18. field — a subject
  19. land — a country
  20. ball — a great time
  21. land — ground
  22. suit — in cards
  23. suit — to fit
  24. prune — the fruit

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