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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. mate — a friend
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. stock — goods
  8. file — a line of people
  9. last — to go on
  10. bark — to shout
  11. last — final
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. last — finally
  17. stock — shares
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. file — a tool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mate — to breed
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. file — a document

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