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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. craft — boats
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. prune — to trim
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stem — to come from
  11. craft — a skill
  12. degree — an amount
  13. prune — to trim
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. degree — temperature
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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