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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. net — after costs
  3. degree — an amount
  4. net — in sport
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — the fish
  8. net — for catching
  9. game — a match
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. prune — to trim
  13. degree — temperature
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bass — low music
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bark — to shout

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