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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. chest — a box
  3. current — electric
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. mark — a grade
  6. ground — crushed
  7. spring — the season
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — the earth
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wake — a trail
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. spring — of water
  16. current — of water
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. mark — a trace
  21. ground — a position
  22. current — happening now
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. cold — not warm

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