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: racket · field · pit · chest · drill · trunk · content · tear

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. chest — of your body
  5. field — a subject
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. tear — to rip
  8. drill — army training
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. pit — a hole
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. drill — a practice
  13. field — for sport
  14. tear — from crying
  15. drill — the tool
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pit — in a race
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — the amount
  20. chest — a box
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. field — farmland

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