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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. press — to push
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. snap — to click
  9. wound — an injury
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. tear — from crying
  13. press — newspapers
  14. degree — an amount
  15. press — a publisher
  16. tear — to rip
  17. degree — temperature
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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