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: wind · wake · field · drill · kid · root · cold · rule

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kid — to tease
  3. drill — the tool
  4. root — the cause
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — an illness
  8. field — for sport
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. drill — army training
  11. kid — child
  12. drill — a practice
  13. field — a subject
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. root — of a plant
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rule — government
  20. root — of a word
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wake — a trail
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rule — a law

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