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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bound — tied together
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bark — to shout
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bound — certain
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rest — what's left
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spell — letters
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bound — obliged
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. degree — from a university
  21. content — happy
  22. spell — a short time
  23. degree — an amount
  24. spell — magic

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