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 120 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: game · spring · kick · capital · bulb · hand · chair · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. spring — a coil
  3. game — wild animals
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. capital — money
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bulb — for light
  8. kick — in football
  9. hand — help
  10. bulb — for light
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. hand — in cards
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. capital — a city
  22. game — a match
  23. chair — a leader
  24. prune — to trim

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