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 116 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. cell — in biology
  3. game — a match
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. face — to point toward
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cell — a phone
  10. clip — for paper
  11. squash — to crush
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. clip — a video
  14. face — part of the head
  15. clip — to cut
  16. face — to confront
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — an illness
  22. game — wild animals
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. stem — to come from

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