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: cold · clip · fine · hide · field · chest · bay · foot

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — a video
  5. cold — an illness
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. field — for sport
  11. fine — high quality
  12. fine — all right
  13. clip — for paper
  14. field — a subject
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. clip — to cut
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. field — farmland
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. foot — a measure

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