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 the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. file — a tool
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. mine — for digging
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. bat — the animal
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. land — a country
  12. foot — a measure
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. land — to come down
  16. file — a document
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. branch — a division
  24. file — a line of people

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