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

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. rash — hasty
  4. kick — in football
  5. wound — an injury
  6. current — happening now
  7. file — a tool
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. row — a line
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. file — a document
  12. spell — a short time
  13. current — electric
  14. game — a match
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. spell — magic
  18. rash — a series
  19. current — of water
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. spell — letters
  24. file — a line of people

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