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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. club — for golf
  4. perch — the fish
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. hand — help
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. band — a music group
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. board — to get on
  12. club — a group
  13. hand — in cards
  14. board — a committee
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. land — a country
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bat — the animal
  19. club — for dancing
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. band — a ring
  24. bat — for baseball

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