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: cap · field · degree · staff · drill · date · cold · foot

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. staff — employees
  3. cap — of ice
  4. staff — a stick
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. staff — employees
  7. foot — a measure
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cap — a lid
  11. drill — army training
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cold — an illness
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cap — a hat
  17. date — the fruit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cold — the Cold War

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