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: march · content · spring · game · object · file · chest · root

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. march — the month
  4. content — the amount
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. root — of a plant
  7. march — music
  8. content — happy
  9. file — a document
  10. game — a match
  11. march — the month
  12. spring — the season
  13. object — to protest
  14. chest — of your body
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. spring — of water
  18. object — an aim
  19. root — of a word
  20. spring — a coil
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. object — a thing
  23. root — the cause
  24. game — wild animals

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