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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rest — a break
  3. mate — a partner
  4. sharp — clever
  5. degree — an amount
  6. stock — goods
  7. wound — an injury
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mate — a friend
  11. degree — temperature
  12. net — for catching
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rest — what's left
  16. net — in sport
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stock — shares
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. mate — to breed
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. net — after costs
  23. rest — what's left
  24. saw — the tool

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