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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. cold — not warm
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mine — for digging
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cold — an illness
  9. file — a tool
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. degree — from a university
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. file — a document
  15. cell — a phone
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. snap — to click
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cell — in biology
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. degree — temperature
  24. mine — belonging to me

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