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 120 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: hand · net · pitch · tear · file · bore · spell · field

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. bore — to tire
  3. spell — letters
  4. field — farmland
  5. net — in sport
  6. spell — magic
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. hand — help
  11. file — a document
  12. bore — to drill
  13. spell — a short time
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. file — a line of people
  16. tear — from crying
  17. net — for catching
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pitch — completely
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. tear — from crying
  23. file — a tool
  24. hand — in cards

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