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: stock · file · plane · calf · cold · march · field · roll

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. march — the month
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — for sport
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. roll — a list
  8. file — a tool
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. cold — an illness
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. field — a subject
  20. plane — a tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. stock — shares
  24. cold — not warm

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