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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. current — electric
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — the season
  8. current — happening now
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cap — a hat
  11. fall — the season
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — a short time
  14. season — in sport
  15. spring — of water
  16. season — of the year
  17. cap — a lid
  18. hand — help
  19. cap — of ice
  20. spell — letters
  21. degree — from a university
  22. current — of water
  23. degree — temperature
  24. spring — a coil

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