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: game · band · branch · cold · ground · row · calf · bark

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ground — crushed
  8. band — a ring
  9. game — a match
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cold — an illness
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. row — a line
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. band — a music group
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cold — not warm
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. band — a rubber band

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