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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. degree — temperature
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. land — a country
  5. branch — a division
  6. clip — for paper
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. clip — to cut
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. kick — in football
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. degree — an amount
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. spring — a coil
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. land — ground
  18. land — to come down
  19. clip — a video
  20. spring — of water
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. degree — from a university
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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