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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. club — for golf
  4. present — there
  5. date — the fruit
  6. club — a group
  7. cold — an illness
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. present — a gift
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. game — a match
  13. club — for dancing
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cell — a phone
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. present — the time now

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