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: firm · field · fan · game · bat · clip · racket · present

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. firm — decided
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — to cut
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. present — the time now
  10. firm — a company
  11. game — a match
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. present — a gift
  15. field — a subject
  16. present — there
  17. firm — steady
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. clip — a video
  24. racket — for tennis

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