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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. wound — an injury
  3. field — a subject
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — a phone
  6. march — music
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. field — for sport
  13. march — the month
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bore — to tire
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. field — farmland
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. shower — rain
  24. wound — an injury

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