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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. field — farmland
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. fall — to drop
  5. prune — to trim
  6. saw — the tool
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. field — a subject
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. game — wild animals
  17. fall — to drop
  18. swing — to play on
  19. game — a match
  20. field — for sport
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fall — the season
  23. bark — to shout
  24. cold — the Cold War

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