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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. cap — a hat
  6. content — happy
  7. file — a tool
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. toast — bread
  14. field — for sport
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. bark — to shout
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. kick — in football
  20. field — a subject
  21. cap — of ice
  22. field — farmland
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. file — a document

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