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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. spring — of water
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. race — humankind
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. race — the arms race
  11. swing — to play on
  12. spring — the season
  13. race — a contest
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — music
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — a coil
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. swing — in golf

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