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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. club — for dancing
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. clip — for paper
  10. court — of law
  11. plane — a tool
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. court — for sport
  14. chair — a leader
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. club — a group
  17. clip — a video
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. court — of a king
  23. club — for golf
  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