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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — letters
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — a practice
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. spring — the season
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. sharp — clever
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. vault — a safe
  17. mine — for digging
  18. drill — the tool
  19. spring — a coil
  20. drill — army training
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spell — magic
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — with an edge

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