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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. lie — to recline
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. chair — a leader
  9. club — a group
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — for paper
  12. snap — to click
  13. clip — a video
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. club — for golf
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stem — to come from
  23. club — for dancing
  24. march — the month

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