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 124 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. clip — for paper
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. degree — temperature
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. toast — bread
  9. game — wild animals
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spell — magic
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spell — letters
  17. game — a match
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. date — the fruit
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cell — a phone
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cell — in biology

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