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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. field — for sport
  4. current — happening now
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. current — of water
  8. content — the amount
  9. cap — a hat
  10. vault — a safe
  11. cap — a lid
  12. current — electric
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. field — farmland
  16. content — happy
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. cap — of ice
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. prune — to trim
  21. field — a subject
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. band — a rubber band

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