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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. pop — music
  3. hand — help
  4. last — final
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. pop — to visit
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chip — to eat
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. last — to go on
  13. degree — temperature
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. last — finally
  16. content — happy
  17. perch — the fish
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pop — soda
  21. degree — from a university
  22. hand — in cards
  23. content — the amount
  24. content — videos and posts

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