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 120 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. content — the amount
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. saw — the tool
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. perch — the fish
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. game — a match
  19. content — happy
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. saw — the tool
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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