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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  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. land — to come down
  2. game — a match
  3. club — for golf
  4. land — ground
  5. shower — to wash
  6. club — a group
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — soda
  11. cell — a phone
  12. root — the cause
  13. game — wild animals
  14. club — for dancing
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — rain
  17. stock — shares
  18. pop — to visit
  19. cell — in biology
  20. land — a country
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — of a plant
  23. stock — goods
  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