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: row · cue · season · band · file · field · bat · stock

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cue — a hint
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. row — a line
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cue — a signal
  7. band — a music group
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. season — of the year
  12. stock — goods
  13. field — a subject
  14. band — a ring
  15. cue — for pool
  16. file — a document
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. season — in sport
  19. file — a line of people
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. stock — shares
  24. season — to add flavour

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