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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. march — the month
  5. bear — the animal
  6. hand — in cards
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. field — farmland
  11. prune — to trim
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. branch — a division
  14. bear — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — music
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — help
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cold — not warm
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. branch — of a bank

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