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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. land — ground
  6. field — for sport
  7. bark — to shout
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. land — a country
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. land — to come down
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wind — moving air
  15. snap — to click
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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