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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bass — low music
  5. present — there
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. press — newspapers
  10. present — a gift
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cell — in biology
  14. tear — to rip
  15. present — the time now
  16. tear — from crying
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. degree — temperature
  20. race — a contest
  21. bass — the fish
  22. press — to push
  23. press — a publisher
  24. cell — in a prison

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