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 120 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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. wound — an injury
  3. degree — from a university
  4. field — a subject
  5. drill — a practice
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bound — tied together
  10. field — farmland
  11. drill — the tool
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. field — for sport
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wound — an injury
  20. degree — an amount
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — obliged

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