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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: prune · club · face · press · cell · capital

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. press — a publisher
  4. capital — money
  5. club — for golf
  6. capital — a city
  7. prune — to trim
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. prune — to trim
  13. club — for dancing
  14. press — to push
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. face — to confront
  17. cell — in biology
  18. press — newspapers

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