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

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. chair — a leader
  4. deal — to handle
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. root — of a word
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. saw — the tool
  9. stock — shares
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. file — a document
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. file — a line of people
  14. degree — an amount
  15. root — the cause
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. file — a tool
  19. degree — temperature
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. root — of a plant
  24. degree — from a university

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