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 116 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. net — for catching
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. shower — to wash
  8. content — the amount
  9. net — after costs
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — in sport
  14. tube — a container
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — happy
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. hand — help
  23. tube — the underground
  24. bowl — a football final

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