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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wind — moving air
  3. degree — from a university
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. kick — in football
  8. spring — the season
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — to shout
  13. spring — of water
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. hand — help
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. hand — in cards
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. spring — a coil
  23. march — the month
  24. kick — a thrill

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