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: saw · land · row · game · bark · pitcher · mark · spell

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. saw — the tool
  4. spell — magic
  5. row — a line
  6. mark — a grade
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. spell — letters
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. spell — a short time
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. row — to paddle
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. land — to come down
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. mark — a trace
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bark — to shout
  24. game — wild animals

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