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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. tear — to rip
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rest — a break
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. root — of a word
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. root — of a plant
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rest — what's left
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. chest — a box
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chest — of your body
  24. track — to keep track

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