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 120 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. tube — a container
  3. land — a country
  4. rest — what's left
  5. land — ground
  6. object — to protest
  7. stock — shares
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. object — an aim
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rest — a break
  16. tube — the underground
  17. stock — goods
  18. land — to come down
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. object — a thing
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stem — a stem cell

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