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: root · cold · bass · pop · sharp · bat · land · content

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. land — ground
  3. root — of a word
  4. bass — low music
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cold — an illness
  7. root — the cause
  8. bass — the fish
  9. land — a country
  10. pop — soda
  11. land — to come down
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. content — happy
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. content — the amount
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — to visit
  21. cold — not warm
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — clever

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