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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. net — for catching
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. degree — temperature
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. land — to come down
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. land — a country
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bat — the animal
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. land — ground
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. wake — a trail
  19. net — in sport
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. net — after costs
  24. pitcher — a jug

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