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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. rule — a law
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pop — music
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. chest — a box
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. pop — soda
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. chest — of your body
  13. degree — temperature
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. spell — letters
  17. prune — to trim
  18. spell — a short time
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pop — to visit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wake — a trail
  23. rule — government
  24. stem — to come from

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