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: date · sharp · last · hand · straw · chest · wave · branch

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chest — of your body
  3. sharp — clever
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. last — to go on
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. branch — a division
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. last — finally
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. last — final
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. hand — in cards
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. date — the fruit
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. hand — help

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