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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. plane — a tool
  5. squash — the sport
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chest — a box
  8. dip — to sink
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. chest — of your body
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. root — of a word
  14. field — farmland
  15. root — the cause
  16. bat — the animal
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. field — a subject
  20. chest — of your body
  21. root — of a plant
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bat — for baseball

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