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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. chest — a box
  4. bound — tied together
  5. cell — in biology
  6. field — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. field — farmland
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. court — for sport
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bound — certain
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. last — to go on
  21. field — a subject
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bound — obliged
  24. court — of a king

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