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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. club — for dancing
  3. hand — in cards
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bound — certain
  6. pit — a hole
  7. club — for golf
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. degree — from a university
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. degree — an amount
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bound — tied together
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. scale — size or range
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bound — obliged
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. pit — in a race
  23. wake — a trail
  24. club — a group

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