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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. shower — rain
  3. degree — an amount
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wound — an injury
  6. capital — a city
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spring — of water
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. capital — money
  12. face — to point toward
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. mate — a friend
  16. face — part of the head
  17. mate — a partner
  18. rash — a series
  19. degree — from a university
  20. mate — to breed
  21. rash — hasty
  22. face — to confront
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. spring — a coil

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