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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. game — a match
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. land — a country
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — to come down
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. object — a thing
  10. object — an aim
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. game — wild animals
  14. land — ground
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. object — to protest
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mine — for digging
  21. craft — boats
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. shower — rain

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