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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. ground — crushed
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. content — happy
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. content — the amount
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bark — to shout
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. wind — moving air
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. ground — a position
  24. lash — to lash out

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