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: wound · hand · roll · field · swing · perch · band · spell

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. swing — in golf
  4. spell — magic
  5. field — for sport
  6. spell — letters
  7. field — a subject
  8. roll — a cake
  9. wound — an injury
  10. band — a ring
  11. field — farmland
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. hand — in cards
  14. perch — the fish
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. swing — to play on
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. band — a music group
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. roll — a list
  22. swing — music
  23. hand — help
  24. spell — a short time

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