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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wind — moving air
  5. degree — from a university
  6. mug — a cup
  7. wound — an injury
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cap — a hat
  10. key — for a lock
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mug — to rob
  13. clip — to cut
  14. hand — help
  15. key — in music
  16. key — the most important part
  17. cap — a lid
  18. clip — a video
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. mug — a face
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. hand — in cards
  24. wind — moving air

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