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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cell — in biology
  3. land — ground
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. degree — an amount
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cell — a phone
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. current — happening now
  15. land — to come down
  16. current — of water
  17. wake — a trail
  18. current — electric
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. land — a country
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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