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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wound — an injury
  3. march — music
  4. content — the amount
  5. row — a line
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. row — to paddle
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wound — an injury
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. march — the month
  22. snap — to click
  23. march — the month
  24. straw — a straw man

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