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: trunk · cap · march · pound · chest · cold · band · prune

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. cap — a lid
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. march — music
  8. band — a music group
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pound — a weight
  11. march — the month
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cold — an illness
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cap — of ice
  19. band — a ring
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. march — the month
  24. pound — to hit hard

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