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

Word bank: ball · stock · patient · field · clip · cold · court · stand

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stand — to bear
  8. field — for sport
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. field — a subject
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stock — shares
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a dance
  16. field — farmland
  17. court — for sport
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. stock — goods
  20. cold — not warm
  21. court — of law
  22. ball — a great time
  23. court — of a king
  24. stock — a soup base

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