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: drill · ground · race · content · file · lean · club · mine

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. ground — crushed
  5. lean — thin
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. drill — a practice
  9. race — the arms race
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. content — the amount
  12. club — for dancing
  13. ground — the earth
  14. race — humankind
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. file — a document
  19. race — a contest
  20. lean — to bend
  21. file — a line of people
  22. content — happy
  23. file — a tool
  24. ground — a position

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