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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — of the year
  4. ground — a position
  5. spring — the season
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. band — a ring
  8. plane — a tool
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. ground — crushed
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. scale — size or range
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. degree — from a university
  17. spring — of water
  18. scale — in music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. wake — a trail
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. ground — the earth

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