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: tear · fine · chair · stock · degree · cell · prune · net

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. stock — shares
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. prune — to trim
  7. degree — temperature
  8. tear — to rip
  9. fine — high quality
  10. cell — in biology
  11. net — after costs
  12. stock — goods
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. prune — to trim
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. degree — an amount
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cell — a phone
  20. net — for catching
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fine — all right
  24. net — in sport

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