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: prune · wound · file · straw · wave · tear · foot · land

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. land — a country
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. prune — to trim
  12. file — a tool
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. tear — to rip
  16. foot — a measure
  17. prune — to trim
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — ground
  20. file — a line of people
  21. tear — from crying
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. file — a document

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