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 116 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: patient · hand · field · capital · bowl · mate · hide · wind

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. field — farmland
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. field — for sport
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mate — a friend
  9. capital — a city
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hand — help
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. mate — a partner
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mate — to breed
  22. capital — money
  23. field — a subject
  24. bowl — a football final

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