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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. mug — a face
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mug — to rob
  7. current — of water
  8. band — a music group
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. band — a ring
  11. current — electric
  12. current — happening now
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — not warm
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a document
  17. perch — the fish
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mark — a trace
  20. cold — an illness
  21. file — a line of people
  22. land — a country
  23. land — to come down
  24. mark — a grade

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