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: land · last · scale · pop · stem · roll · hide · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pop — music
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. last — to go on
  5. pop — soda
  6. scale — in music
  7. land — ground
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. last — final
  13. pop — to visit
  14. roll — a cake
  15. scale — size or range
  16. last — finally
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — to come from
  19. land — to come down
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. roll — a list
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. land — a country

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