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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. wind — moving air
  5. content — happy
  6. craft — boats
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. perch — the fish
  9. content — the amount
  10. branch — a division
  11. degree — an amount
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. march — the month
  16. degree — temperature
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. craft — a skill
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — hasty
  23. march — music
  24. wind — to turn a key

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