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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. row — a line
  3. drill — a practice
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a dance
  6. degree — from a university
  7. drill — the tool
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. craft — boats
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. content — happy
  12. degree — temperature
  13. saw — the tool
  14. degree — an amount
  15. content — the amount
  16. craft — a skill
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. row — to paddle
  22. drill — army training
  23. saw — the tool
  24. content — videos and posts

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