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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: trunk · cell · cold · bat · land · wound · pit · stock

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cell — in biology
  3. land — a country
  4. pit — a hole
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pit — in a race
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stock — goods
  14. wound — an injury
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. stock — shares
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cell — a phone
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. bat — in an idiom

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