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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. season — in sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. degree — from a university
  6. season — of the year
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. chest — a box
  13. vault — a safe
  14. field — for sport
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. field — a subject
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. stem — to come from
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. season — to add flavour

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