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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — music
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. field — farmland
  8. prune — to trim
  9. march — the month
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. degree — from a university
  12. march — the month
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. chest — a box
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — a subject

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