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 120 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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. season — of the year
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chest — of your body
  5. land — to come down
  6. rest — a break
  7. pit — in a race
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. rest — what's left
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — shares
  16. season — in sport
  17. chest — a box
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cell — a phone
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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