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: racket · fork · field · pit · cell · wind · land · degree

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. land — a country
  3. pit — a hole
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — to come down
  8. cell — a phone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. field — farmland
  13. cell — in biology
  14. land — ground
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. field — for sport
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. degree — temperature
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pit — in a race
  22. field — a subject
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. degree — from a university

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