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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. tube — a container
  6. field — a subject
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. lie — to recline
  9. content — happy
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. game — wild animals
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. tube — the underground
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. content — the amount
  17. field — for sport
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to sink
  20. ball — a dance
  21. game — a match
  22. ball — a great time
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. game — a kind of play

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