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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. field — a subject
  3. degree — temperature
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. ball — a dance
  6. net — after costs
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. plane — a tool
  10. game — wild animals
  11. degree — an amount
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to click
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. degree — from a university
  22. game — a match
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. spring — a coil

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