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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. file — a document
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. spring — the season
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. rest — a break
  15. stock — shares
  16. land — a country
  17. stock — goods
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. wake — a trail
  21. file — a tool
  22. land — ground
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. land — to come down

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