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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. land — to come down
  3. track — a song
  4. swing — to play on
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. toast — bread
  7. track — a path
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. swing — music
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bark — to shout
  12. land — ground
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. track — to keep track
  19. land — a country
  20. swing — in golf
  21. shower — rain
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. shower — to wash

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