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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bank — for money
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cold — not warm
  5. last — to go on
  6. tear — from crying
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. tear — to rip
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. capital — money
  14. field — a subject
  15. bank — for money
  16. last — final
  17. field — for sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — an illness
  21. branch — a division
  22. field — farmland
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. bank — of a river

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