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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rock — a stone
  3. spring — the season
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pop — music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. rock — music
  9. court — for sport
  10. pop — soda
  11. spring — a coil
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. spring — of water
  14. land — to come down
  15. clip — a video
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. court — of law
  18. row — a line
  19. court — of a king
  20. pop — to visit
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. land — ground
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. row — to paddle

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