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

Word bank: file · sharp · pitch · lash · tear · chair · prune · degree

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. degree — an amount
  9. file — a line of people
  10. degree — from a university
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. pitch — completely
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. file — a document
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tear — from crying
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. prune — to trim
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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