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 116 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bat — the animal
  5. fall — to drop
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. swing — in golf
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cell — in biology
  12. degree — temperature
  13. swing — music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. rush — hurry
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. fall — the season
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. degree — from a university
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cell — a phone
  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