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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. race — humankind
  3. field — farmland
  4. race — the arms race
  5. last — to go on
  6. swing — to play on
  7. court — of a king
  8. last — final
  9. swing — music
  10. fall — to drop
  11. rule — a law
  12. court — for sport
  13. race — a contest
  14. fall — to drop
  15. field — a subject
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. fall — the season
  18. swing — in golf
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. field — for sport
  22. cell — in biology
  23. last — finally
  24. court — of law

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