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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. cold — not warm
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. bat — the animal
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cold — an illness
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. row — a line
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stem — to come from

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