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: mine · cue · game · field · wake · wound · cap · swing

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. field — a subject
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cap — of ice
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cap — a hat
  11. swing — to play on
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cue — a hint
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cue — for pool
  18. swing — music
  19. field — farmland
  20. swing — in golf
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cap — a lid
  23. field — for sport
  24. cue — a signal

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