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 120 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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. net — after costs
  3. spring — the season
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — to come from
  6. sharp — clever
  7. court — of a king
  8. net — for catching
  9. tear — from crying
  10. dip — to sink
  11. court — for sport
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. spring — of water
  14. net — in sport
  15. tear — to rip
  16. spring — a coil
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. court — of law
  22. tear — from crying
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. chair — a leader

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