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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. club — a group
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ground — the earth
  7. row — to paddle
  8. ball — a great time
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. ground — a position
  11. club — for golf
  12. file — a line of people
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cold — an illness
  15. file — a document
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. club — for dancing
  18. file — a tool
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. row — a line
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cold — not warm
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ball — a round shape

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