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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. rush — hurry
  7. ground — a position
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. fork — in a road
  12. spring — the season
  13. ball — a great time
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. spring — a coil
  16. file — a tool
  17. wake — a trail
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ball — a dance
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. spring — of water
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ground — the earth

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