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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. spring — the season
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. degree — an amount
  5. spring — of water
  6. degree — temperature
  7. land — a country
  8. season — in sport
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. season — of the year
  11. degree — from a university
  12. march — music
  13. pass — a permit
  14. land — to come down
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. spring — a coil
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. march — the month
  20. cell — in biology
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. land — ground
  23. cell — a phone
  24. march — the month

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