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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bank — for money
  5. net — after costs
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. bank — for money
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bound — obliged
  11. net — in sport
  12. cold — not warm
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bank — of a river
  15. net — for catching
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — an illness
  21. last — final
  22. bound — tied together
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bound — certain

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