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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. row — a line
  3. perch — the fish
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — a position
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pop — to visit
  10. degree — an amount
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. row — to paddle
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. lean — to bend
  16. pop — music
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. degree — temperature
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — from a university
  22. ground — crushed
  23. pop — soda
  24. lean — thin

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