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: field · stock · degree · patient · bowl · cold · stick · race

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. degree — from a university
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. degree — temperature
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. race — a contest
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. stock — shares
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. degree — an amount
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. race — the arms race
  24. stock — goods

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