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 116 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: cold · mark · squash · saw · land · trunk · wake · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mark — a grade
  3. squash — to crush
  4. land — ground
  5. wake — a trail
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mark — a trace
  18. face — to point toward
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — a country
  21. squash — the sport
  22. saw — the tool
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cold — an illness

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