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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. degree — an amount
  4. season — in sport
  5. band — a music group
  6. degree — from a university
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chip — for betting
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. capital — money
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. prune — to trim
  14. band — a ring
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. season — of the year
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. degree — temperature
  22. capital — a city
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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