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: court · bark · perch · trunk · march · mine · race · cold

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. march — the month
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. race — a contest
  7. perch — the fish
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. mine — for digging
  11. court — of law
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. march — music
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — humankind
  17. cold — an illness
  18. race — the arms race
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bark — to shout
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — not warm
  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