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: pitch · drill · file · swing · field · ground · chip · cold

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. ground — a position
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cold — an illness
  5. file — a document
  6. field — farmland
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. ground — the earth
  11. swing — music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. field — for sport
  14. drill — army training
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. swing — to play on
  19. chip — to eat
  20. file — a tool
  21. drill — the tool
  22. swing — in golf
  23. ground — crushed
  24. pitch — completely

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