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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cell — a phone
  3. clip — to cut
  4. charge — a price
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kid — child
  7. key — for a lock
  8. charge — electricity
  9. charge — in control
  10. chair — a leader
  11. clip — a video
  12. cell — in biology
  13. degree — an amount
  14. kid — to tease
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wound — an injury
  18. key — the most important part
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. key — in music
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wound — an injury

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