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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. hand — help
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. march — the month
  8. cell — a phone
  9. fall — to drop
  10. degree — from a university
  11. game — a match
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. fall — the season
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — in sport
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a great time
  19. cell — in biology
  20. fall — to drop
  21. hand — in cards
  22. ball — a dance
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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