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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. pit — in a race
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. court — of a king
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. spring — the season
  11. bark — to shout
  12. shower — rain
  13. prune — to trim
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — of law
  20. spring — of water
  21. court — for sport
  22. land — to come down
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bear — the animal

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