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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. court — for sport
  5. date — the fruit
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. court — of a king
  9. tear — to rip
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. land — a country
  12. court — of law
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — a tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. stand — to bear
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. tear — from crying
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — ground
  24. stand — for spectators

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