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 116 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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. clip — to cut
  3. root — of a plant
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — the fish
  9. root — of a word
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — temperature
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. mine — for digging
  16. degree — an amount
  17. root — the cause
  18. bass — low music
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — help
  23. clip — a video
  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