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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · field · cue · rest · race · file

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. field — a subject
  3. race — the arms race
  4. cue — for pool
  5. file — a document
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cue — a hint
  8. field — farmland
  9. file — a line of people
  10. rest — what's left
  11. file — a tool
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rest — a break
  14. race — a contest
  15. rest — what's left
  16. race — humankind
  17. field — for sport
  18. cold — an illness

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