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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. prune — to trim
  5. face — part of the head
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. file — a tool
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. file — a line of people
  10. prune — to trim
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — not warm
  13. capital — a city
  14. cold — an illness
  15. face — to point toward
  16. file — a document
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. face — to confront
  20. bass — low music
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. capital — a big letter

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