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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. row — a line
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bank — of a river
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. degree — temperature
  7. capital — money
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. capital — a city
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. row — to paddle
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bank — for money
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bank — for money
  18. perch — the fish
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wax — to grow
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. patient — a sick person

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