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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bound — certain
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. stem — to come from
  8. game — a match
  9. file — a tool
  10. spell — magic
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. field — for sport
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bound — tied together
  16. field — a subject
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bound — obliged
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. spell — letters
  22. file — a document
  23. spell — a short time
  24. field — farmland

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