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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. content — the amount
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — help
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — a container
  8. deal — to handle
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. hand — in cards
  11. content — happy
  12. degree — an amount
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. degree — temperature
  16. tear — from crying
  17. club — a group
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. club — for golf
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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