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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. club — for dancing
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. roll — a list
  5. club — for golf
  6. degree — from a university
  7. club — a group
  8. scale — size or range
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. clip — a video
  16. roll — a cake
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. clip — for paper
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wax — to grow

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