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 124 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. band — a music group
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. degree — temperature
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. court — of a king
  9. degree — an amount
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. shower — rain
  12. degree — from a university
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. perch — the fish
  15. court — of law
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. kid — child
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. kid — to tease
  22. court — for sport
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. band — a ring

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