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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. branch — a division
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bat — the animal
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. deal — to handle
  13. current — happening now
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. tear — to rip
  19. current — electric
  20. current — of water
  21. cold — not warm
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. cold — an illness

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