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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. land — a country
  7. foot — a measure
  8. degree — temperature
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cell — a phone
  13. land — to come down
  14. degree — an amount
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cell — in biology
  18. content — the amount
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. date — the fruit
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. degree — from a university

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