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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. branch — a division
  3. tear — from crying
  4. squash — the sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. drill — army training
  7. race — humankind
  8. degree — an amount
  9. drill — a practice
  10. tear — from crying
  11. drill — the tool
  12. face — part of the head
  13. face — to confront
  14. spring — of water
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. tear — to rip
  17. race — the arms race
  18. face — to point toward
  19. spring — a coil
  20. degree — from a university
  21. squash — to crush
  22. degree — temperature
  23. race — a contest
  24. branch — of a tree

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