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: shower · file · saw · root · pitcher · wind · land · tear

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. wind — to turn a key
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. shower — rain
  7. saw — the tool
  8. file — a tool
  9. root — the cause
  10. land — a country
  11. tear — to rip
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. root — of a word
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — to come down
  16. saw — the tool
  17. land — ground
  18. root — of a plant
  19. file — a line of people
  20. tear — from crying
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wind — moving air
  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