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 120 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. tear — from crying
  4. band — a ring
  5. row — a line
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. band — a music group
  10. branch — a division
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. court — for sport
  20. tear — to rip
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. prune — to trim

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