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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rock — music
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. cold — not warm
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fall — the season
  9. rule — a law
  10. spell — a short time
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fall — to drop
  13. spell — magic
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. rule — government
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. spell — letters
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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