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 · clip · lean · tear · field · rock · plane · foot

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. clip — for paper
  3. field — farmland
  4. lean — thin
  5. rock — a stone
  6. field — a subject
  7. rock — music
  8. tear — to rip
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. lean — to bend
  11. foot — a measure
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. tear — from crying
  14. field — for sport
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tear — from crying
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. clip — a video
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. plane — a tool
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. plane — an aircraft

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