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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. spring — of water
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. spring — the season
  11. board — to get on
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. swing — to play on
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — a subject
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — a coil
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. degree — an amount
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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