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: bark · rock · leaves · rest · tear · degree · clip · cell

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cell — in biology
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rock — music
  5. tear — to rip
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. clip — for paper
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. rest — a break
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. clip — a video
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cell — a phone
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. rest — what's left
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bark — to shout
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. rock — a stone

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