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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. club — a group
  3. club — for dancing
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. band — a music group
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. land — to come down
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. degree — an amount
  11. row — to paddle
  12. club — for golf
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. degree — temperature
  15. chair — a leader
  16. ball — a great time
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. land — a country
  20. row — a line
  21. degree — from a university
  22. land — ground
  23. band — a ring
  24. wind — moving air

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