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 · stick · present · field · press · row

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. field — a subject
  3. present — the time now
  4. press — a publisher
  5. field — farmland
  6. row — a line
  7. press — to push
  8. present — there
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. present — a gift
  12. press — newspapers
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cold — an illness
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. field — for sport

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