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 116 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. charge — in control
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. field — a subject
  7. wind — moving air
  8. charge — electricity
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rush — hurry
  13. field — for sport
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. capital — money
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bat — the animal
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. charge — a price
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. field — farmland

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