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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. degree — an amount
  6. content — the amount
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cap — of ice
  9. chair — a leader
  10. season — of the year
  11. season — in sport
  12. cap — a lid
  13. degree — from a university
  14. spring — a coil
  15. content — happy
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. degree — temperature
  20. spring — of water
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cap — a hat
  23. mine — for digging
  24. calf — a young animal

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