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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. kid — to tease
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. field — farmland
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. game — wild animals
  8. roll — a list
  9. game — a match
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. roll — a cake
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. field — for sport
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rash — hasty
  19. field — a subject
  20. pop — music
  21. rash — a series
  22. date — the fruit
  23. pop — soda
  24. kid — child

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