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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. tube — the underground
  4. field — farmland
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. mate — a partner
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chest — a box
  9. stand — to bear
  10. field — for sport
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. content — the amount
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mate — a friend
  17. snap — to click
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. mate — to breed
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bark — to shout
  22. tube — a container
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. field — a subject

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