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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cold — not warm
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. tube — the underground
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. kid — to tease
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. tube — a container
  13. degree — from a university
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — of the year
  16. degree — temperature
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. cold — an illness
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. season — in sport
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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