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: bat · trunk · object · mine · shower · chest · kid · bound

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. bound — tied together
  3. chest — of your body
  4. object — a thing
  5. chest — a box
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. object — an aim
  8. bat — the animal
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. shower — rain
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bound — obliged
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. mine — for digging
  16. kid — child
  17. shower — to wash
  18. object — to protest
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chest — of your body
  23. kid — to tease
  24. bat — for baseball

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