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: straw · land · hide · game · content · wake · tear · snap

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. content — the amount
  4. tear — from crying
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. land — ground
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. content — happy
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. game — a match
  17. game — wild animals
  18. tear — from crying
  19. land — a country
  20. tear — to rip
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. snap — to click
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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