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: clip · root · capital · wind · chair · perch · stem · tube

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. capital — a city
  3. clip — to cut
  4. root — of a word
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chair — a leader
  11. clip — for paper
  12. tube — a container
  13. stem — to come from
  14. root — the cause
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. tube — the underground
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — a video
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. root — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. capital — money
  24. perch — for a bird

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