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: board · field · straw · wound · bass · wind · stock · pitch

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wind — moving air
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. bass — the fish
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bass — low music
  8. field — farmland
  9. wind — moving air
  10. field — for sport
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. board — a committee
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. board — to get on
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stock — goods
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. field — a subject
  24. pitch — completely

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