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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. prune — to trim
  6. snap — to click
  7. field — farmland
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. field — a subject
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. capital — a city
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. season — of the year
  15. band — a music group
  16. pound — a weight
  17. capital — money
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. field — for sport
  20. band — a ring
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — in sport
  24. bark — to shout

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