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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. degree — temperature
  8. march — the month
  9. rash — a series
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. cold — an illness
  16. march — music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — the month
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. spell — magic
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. racket — for tennis

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