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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. scale — in music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. degree — temperature
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. scale — size or range
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. dip — to sink
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. net — after costs
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — in sport
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — not warm

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