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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. march — music
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. spring — the season
  5. march — the month
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. spring — of water
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. degree — an amount
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. mine — for digging
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. roll — a list
  24. degree — from a university

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