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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. row — to paddle
  3. degree — from a university
  4. field — a subject
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. object — an aim
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. field — for sport
  14. object — a thing
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. degree — temperature
  17. field — farmland
  18. toast — bread
  19. cold — an illness
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. object — to protest
  23. row — a line
  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