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: game · wake · land · file · nail · court · staff · content

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. land — a country
  3. game — wild animals
  4. staff — a stick
  5. land — ground
  6. content — the amount
  7. file — a line of people
  8. court — of law
  9. content — happy
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. staff — employees
  12. court — for sport
  13. staff — employees
  14. game — a match
  15. court — of a king
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. land — to come down
  24. wake — a trail

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