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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. face — to confront
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. land — a country
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. ground — the earth
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — the season
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — to come down
  13. degree — temperature
  14. scale — in music
  15. face — part of the head
  16. rash — hasty
  17. spring — of water
  18. face — to point toward
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. scale — size or range
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — a series
  24. ground — crushed

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