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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wind — moving air
  3. degree — temperature
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. degree — from a university
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. game — wild animals
  8. last — to go on
  9. perch — the fish
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to confront
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. face — to point toward
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wind — moving air
  21. last — final
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. game — a match

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