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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · file · shower · game · prune · chest · hand · ground

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. ground — the earth
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. shower — to wash
  6. file — a document
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. ground — crushed
  14. chest — of your body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. file — a tool
  19. prune — to trim
  20. ground — a position
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. hand — help
  23. shower — rain
  24. game — wild animals

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