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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. bat — the animal
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. season — of the year
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. scale — in music
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. date — the fruit
  14. march — the month
  15. season — in sport
  16. hand — help
  17. scale — size or range
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. march — music
  20. kid — to tease
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — in cards
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. kid — child

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