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: straw · kid · nail · cold · field · perch · jam · snap

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. field — for sport
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cold — not warm
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. perch — the fish
  20. cold — an illness
  21. field — farmland
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. snap — to click
  24. field — a subject

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