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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. band — a ring
  3. last — finally
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mate — a partner
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bark — to shout
  11. content — the amount
  12. clip — to cut
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. mate — a friend
  15. last — final
  16. content — happy
  17. prune — to trim
  18. clip — for paper
  19. band — a music group
  20. clip — a video
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. chair — a professorship

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