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: prune · capital · straw · press · sharp · land · bark · tear

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  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. straw — a straw man
  2. prune — to trim
  3. press — a publisher
  4. land — a country
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. press — to push
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. land — ground
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. tear — from crying
  13. press — newspapers
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. land — to come down
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bark — to shout
  19. capital — money
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. sharp — clever
  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