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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. spell — magic
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bank — for money
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bank — of a river
  11. snap — to click
  12. march — music
  13. field — farmland
  14. spell — a short time
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. cold — an illness
  19. band — a ring
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bank — for money
  22. band — a music group
  23. spell — letters
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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