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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. wind — moving air
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. bound — tied together
  6. prune — to trim
  7. branch — a division
  8. tear — from crying
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. tear — to rip
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chair — a leader
  14. spring — of water
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bound — obliged
  18. spring — the season
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bound — certain
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. prune — the fruit

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