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: chest · land · bass · lie · prune · mine · wind · spell

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bass — low music
  4. chest — a box
  5. lie — to recline
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. spell — magic
  9. bass — the fish
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spell — a short time
  12. mine — for digging
  13. spell — letters
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. chest — of your body
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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