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: face · craft · field · rest · capital · cell · cabinet · clip

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. field — farmland
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. field — for sport
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. craft — boats
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. field — a subject
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — in biology
  17. face — to confront
  18. capital — a city
  19. rest — what's left
  20. face — part of the head
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. clip — a video
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. craft — a skill

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