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: rush · clip · wound · land · field · chest · lean · cell

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. land — a country
  4. field — farmland
  5. clip — a video
  6. cell — a phone
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — for sport
  9. clip — for paper
  10. land — to come down
  11. chest — of your body
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chest — a box
  15. land — ground
  16. field — a subject
  17. wound — an injury
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. lean — to bend
  23. rush — hurry
  24. chest — of your body

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