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

Word bank: wind · chair · club · roll · land · lie · face · perch

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. roll — a list
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. face — to confront
  6. wind — moving air
  7. club — for dancing
  8. chair — a leader
  9. club — for golf
  10. roll — a cake
  11. face — to point toward
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. land — a country
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. wind — moving air
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. land — ground
  20. club — a group
  21. face — part of the head
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. land — to come down
  24. lie — to recline

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