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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cap — a lid
  3. rest — a break
  4. spell — a short time
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pit — a hole
  9. spell — magic
  10. cap — of ice
  11. pit — in a race
  12. spell — letters
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cap — a hat
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. tear — to rip
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. clip — for paper
  24. tear — from crying

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