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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. clip — a video
  4. degree — an amount
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. tube — the underground
  7. rule — government
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — a container
  11. spell — letters
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rule — a law
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fall — to drop
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fall — the season
  18. spell — a short time
  19. fall — to drop
  20. spell — magic
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. rock — music
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — a stone

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