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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. shower — rain
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chest — of your body
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. prune — to trim
  13. season — in sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. scale — size or range
  18. chest — a box
  19. season — of the year
  20. scale — in music
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. fan — a supporter

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