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: squash · firm · land · bark · pit · chair · spring · file

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. land — ground
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. squash — to crush
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. land — a country
  13. squash — the sport
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. bark — to shout
  16. file — a tool
  17. land — to come down
  18. file — a line of people
  19. firm — steady
  20. firm — a company
  21. spring — the season
  22. file — a document
  23. pit — in a race
  24. spring — of water

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