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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. clip — a video
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. root — of a plant
  6. degree — an amount
  7. root — of a word
  8. clip — to cut
  9. object — a thing
  10. stem — to come from
  11. degree — temperature
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — a tool
  14. net — after costs
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. object — to protest
  18. clip — for paper
  19. root — the cause
  20. net — for catching
  21. chip — to eat
  22. net — in sport
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. object — an aim

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