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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. land — to come down
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. degree — temperature
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. land — a country
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — in a road
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. land — ground

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