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 · tube · last · present · bat · file · mine · patient

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — final
  3. present — there
  4. file — a line of people
  5. present — the time now
  6. tube — a container
  7. mine — for digging
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. tube — the underground
  11. last — finally
  12. land — ground
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. land — to come down
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. land — a country
  22. bat — the animal
  23. present — a gift
  24. patient — a sick person

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