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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. degree — from a university
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. present — there
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cue — for pool
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — a friend
  11. degree — an amount
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — a hint
  14. dip — to sink
  15. degree — temperature
  16. present — the time now
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. shower — rain
  21. cell — in biology
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. present — a gift

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