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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. cue — for pool
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cap — of ice
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. branch — a division
  8. clip — for paper
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. perch — the fish
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. cue — a hint
  16. prune — to trim
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cap — a hat
  20. rule — government
  21. cue — a signal
  22. cap — a lid
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cold — the Cold War

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