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 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spring — a coil
  4. current — of water
  5. land — ground
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. degree — an amount
  8. deal — to handle
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. club — for golf
  11. current — happening now
  12. spring — of water
  13. ball — a dance
  14. ball — a great time
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. degree — temperature
  18. land — to come down
  19. club — for dancing
  20. land — a country
  21. club — a group
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. spring — the season
  24. current — electric

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