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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. perch — the fish
  3. track — a path
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. capital — money
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. capital — a city
  9. can — to be able to
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. can — a tin
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. track — a song
  14. track — to keep track
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — a container
  17. can — a tin
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cold — not warm
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. perch — for a bird

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