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 · content · perch · last · vault · scale · drill · cold

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — to come down
  3. last — finally
  4. cold — not warm
  5. scale — in music
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. drill — army training
  13. scale — size or range
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. perch — the fish
  16. vault — a safe
  17. cold — an illness
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. land — ground
  21. content — happy
  22. content — the amount
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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