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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. degree — from a university
  3. march — the month
  4. wind — moving air
  5. tube — a container
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. saw — the tool
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. degree — temperature
  10. march — the month
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pop — soda
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. pop — to visit
  17. degree — an amount
  18. kid — to tease
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — the underground
  21. pop — music
  22. lean — to bend
  23. march — music
  24. kid — child

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