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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. land — ground
  3. march — the month
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. drill — army training
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. game — a match
  10. hand — help
  11. drill — the tool
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. hand — in cards
  14. prune — to trim
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wind — moving air
  19. land — to come down
  20. lean — thin
  21. land — a country
  22. drill — a practice
  23. lean — to bend
  24. lean — to rest against

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