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: kid · current · ground · shower · trunk · net · date · bound

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bound — obliged
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. kid — to tease
  6. current — of water
  7. bound — certain
  8. net — for catching
  9. ground — crushed
  10. shower — rain
  11. net — in sport
  12. bound — tied together
  13. date — the fruit
  14. current — electric
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. ground — a position
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. current — happening now
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. net — after costs
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. ground — the earth
  24. trunk — of a tree

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