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. The water is too ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. net — after costs
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. degree — temperature
  7. current — electric
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. current — of water
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. net — in sport
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cold — an illness
  14. degree — from a university
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. net — for catching
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. current — happening now
  23. degree — an amount
  24. perch — the fish

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