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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. capital — a city
  8. lean — thin
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. cell — a phone
  12. race — a contest
  13. stem — to come from
  14. snap — to click
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. race — the arms race
  19. capital — money
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cell — in biology
  22. race — humankind
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. stem — a stem cell

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