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: vault · kid · tear · date · cold · drill · perch · root

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. perch — the fish
  3. root — of a word
  4. cold — not warm
  5. vault — a safe
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — the cause
  9. tear — to rip
  10. drill — army training
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. drill — the tool
  15. tear — from crying
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — to tease
  19. date — the fruit
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. drill — a practice
  23. kid — child
  24. tear — from crying

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