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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bound — tied together
  6. degree — an amount
  7. file — a line of people
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. fine — all right
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. field — farmland
  16. file — a document
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bound — obliged
  20. field — a subject
  21. file — a tool
  22. field — for sport
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bound — certain

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