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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — an illness
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. capital — money
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. snap — to click
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. race — humankind
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. date — the fruit
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. race — a contest
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. race — the arms race

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