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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. land — to come down
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. clip — a video
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. clip — for paper
  15. mate — a friend
  16. degree — temperature
  17. land — ground
  18. mate — a partner
  19. clip — to cut
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. land — a country
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  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