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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. swing — to play on
  3. hand — help
  4. degree — from a university
  5. board — a committee
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. degree — an amount
  8. hand — in cards
  9. swing — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. clip — to cut
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. swing — in golf
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. scale — size or range
  17. board — to get on
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. cold — an illness
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. scale — in music
  24. degree — temperature

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