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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cold — an illness
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cap — a hat
  5. drill — army training
  6. land — a country
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cap — of ice
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — the tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cap — a lid
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. land — to come down
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. land — ground
  23. cold — not warm
  24. arm — a part of something

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