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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — a coil
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. clip — a video
  8. branch — a division
  9. dip — to sink
  10. degree — an amount
  11. lean — thin
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. bulb — for light
  15. net — for catching
  16. degree — from a university
  17. clip — for paper
  18. degree — temperature
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bulb — for light
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. clip — to cut
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. net — in sport

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