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: wound · ground · wind · hand · field · cue · suit · fall

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. fall — to drop
  3. suit — clothes
  4. suit — in cards
  5. suit — to fit
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ground — a position
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cue — a signal
  12. hand — in cards
  13. field — farmland
  14. fall — to drop
  15. field — for sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fall — the season
  20. hand — help
  21. cue — a hint
  22. field — a subject
  23. ground — crushed
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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