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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. chest — a box
  15. chair — a leader
  16. fork — in a road
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. current — electric
  20. current — of water
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. wound — an injury
  23. current — happening now
  24. roll — a list

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