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 120 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: fall · game · tear · content · wind · spell · plane · field

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — the amount
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tear — to rip
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. spell — a short time
  9. game — a match
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. field — a subject
  12. spell — magic
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. content — happy
  15. tear — from crying
  16. field — for sport
  17. spell — letters
  18. plane — a tool
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. fall — the season
  21. wind — moving air
  22. game — wild animals
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. field — farmland

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