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 116 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've got to change the light ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. land — ground
  5. file — a line of people
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. march — the month
  10. land — a country
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bulb — for light
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. file — a tool
  17. land — to come down
  18. march — the month
  19. rush — hurry
  20. drill — the tool
  21. game — wild animals
  22. march — music
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. file — a document

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