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: track · bound · degree · field · chest · shower · last · bass

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — from a university
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — for sport
  6. shower — rain
  7. last — finally
  8. last — final
  9. field — farmland
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bound — obliged
  13. chest — a box
  14. track — a song
  15. last — to go on
  16. track — a path
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. field — a subject
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bound — certain
  22. bass — the fish
  23. track — to keep track
  24. bass — low music

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