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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bass — the fish
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. current — happening now
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bass — low music
  8. net — for catching
  9. degree — temperature
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. mine — for digging
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. degree — from a university
  16. current — of water
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. spring — of water
  19. net — after costs
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. spring — the season
  22. current — electric
  23. net — in sport
  24. degree — an amount

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