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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stock — shares
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — low music
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — goods
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. field — for sport
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. clip — to cut
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. clip — a video
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — a stem cell

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