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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. cell — a phone
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. band — a ring
  5. drill — army training
  6. wake — a trail
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. ground — a position
  9. cell — in biology
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. shower — to wash
  15. ground — crushed
  16. shower — rain
  17. band — a music group
  18. field — a subject
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. field — for sport
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. band — a rubber band

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