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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. snap — to click
  3. root — of a plant
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. root — of a word
  6. rest — a break
  7. capital — a city
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. field — a subject
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. root — the cause
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. dip — to sink
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wake — a trail
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. field — for sport
  19. capital — money
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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