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: mine · march · tear · trunk · arm · hand · wound · cold

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. march — the month
  7. tear — from crying
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. march — the month
  13. tear — to rip
  14. hand — help
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — for digging
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wound — an injury
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — not warm

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