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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. ball — a dance
  4. ball — a great time
  5. hand — help
  6. row — to paddle
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bulb — for light
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bulb — for light
  17. chair — a leader
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — child
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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