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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. spring — of water
  3. present — the time now
  4. kid — child
  5. clip — a video
  6. kid — to tease
  7. present — there
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. drill — army training
  11. degree — an amount
  12. present — a gift
  13. spring — a coil
  14. shower — to wash
  15. spring — the season
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. drill — the tool
  18. scale — size or range
  19. drill — a practice
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. scale — in music
  24. clip — to cut

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