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: bark · field · coach · shower · spring · kid · foot · content

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. field — for sport
  4. spring — a coil
  5. field — farmland
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. content — the amount
  11. foot — a measure
  12. bark — to shout
  13. shower — rain
  14. spring — the season
  15. kid — child
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. shower — to wash
  20. content — happy
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. spring — of water
  24. coach — a trainer

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