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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. snap — to click
  3. degree — temperature
  4. craft — a skill
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. court — of law
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. clip — a video
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. clip — for paper
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. clip — to cut
  14. court — for sport
  15. craft — boats
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. degree — from a university
  18. court — of a king

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