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 120 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: tear · branch · wound · hand · perch · lean · cold · bass

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. lean — to bend
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bass — low music
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cold — not warm
  8. perch — the fish
  9. lean — thin
  10. hand — help
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. wound — an injury
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cold — an illness
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tear — from crying
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. bass — the fish

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