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 120 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. land — ground
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. shower — rain
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. tear — from crying
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. field — farmland
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. perch — the fish
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — a subject
  16. shower — to wash
  17. field — for sport
  18. file — a tool
  19. tear — to rip
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. tear — from crying
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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