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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. scale — size or range
  3. club — for golf
  4. clip — to cut
  5. current — of water
  6. scale — in music
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. club — a group
  9. degree — temperature
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. degree — from a university
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. clip — for paper
  14. ball — a dance
  15. clip — a video
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. ball — a great time
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. club — for dancing
  23. degree — an amount
  24. current — happening now

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