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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. row — to paddle
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. file — a tool
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. chair — a leader
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. file — a line of people
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. row — a line
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — to eat
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. chip — for betting
  21. file — a document
  22. game — wild animals
  23. wax — to grow
  24. chair — to sit on

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