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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. degree — from a university
  3. prune — to trim
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. field — for sport
  6. clip — for paper
  7. degree — an amount
  8. field — farmland
  9. prune — to trim
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. charge — electricity
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. charge — in control
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — a video
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. charge — a price
  23. field — a subject
  24. straw — a straw man

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