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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cap — a hat
  5. branch — a division
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cap — a lid
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. file — a tool
  15. board — to get on
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. file — a document
  19. bat — the animal
  20. prune — to trim
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. prune — to trim
  23. game — a match
  24. branch — of a bank

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