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: land · bat · drill · chest · spring · can · club · swing

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. spring — the season
  3. chest — of your body
  4. swing — music
  5. drill — army training
  6. land — to come down
  7. spring — of water
  8. can — a tin
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — a coil
  11. can — a tin
  12. club — for dancing
  13. chest — a box
  14. swing — to play on
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. chest — of your body
  18. club — a group
  19. can — to be able to
  20. land — a country
  21. club — for golf
  22. bat — the animal
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bat — for baseball

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