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: prune · bulb · pitch · wind · hand · scale · chair · mine

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. chair — a leader
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. hand — in cards
  10. pitch — completely
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. mine — for digging
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — in music
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. scale — size or range
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. wind — to turn a key

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