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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. band — a ring
  3. kid — to tease
  4. root — of a word
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. root — the cause
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. mate — to breed
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. kid — child
  14. bark — to shout
  15. lie — to recline
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mate — a friend
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. root — of a plant
  24. trunk — of a tree

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