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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. kid — to tease
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cell — in biology
  5. prune — to trim
  6. swing — to play on
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. spring — the season
  9. degree — temperature
  10. prune — to trim
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — child
  14. spring — a coil
  15. degree — from a university
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — in golf
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. spring — of water
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. pound — a weight
  22. stem — to come from
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — to hit hard

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