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: saw · jam · race · chest · field · tear · cold · craft

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. field — a subject
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. field — for sport
  5. tear — to rip
  6. race — the arms race
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. race — humankind
  17. field — farmland
  18. saw — the tool
  19. craft — a skill
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. race — a contest
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. chest — a box
  24. tear — from crying

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