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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. degree — temperature
  3. clip — to cut
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. stem — to come from
  6. lie — to recline
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — an amount
  13. game — a match
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. clip — for paper
  19. season — of the year
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chair — a leader
  22. clip — a video
  23. season — in sport
  24. lie — an untruth

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