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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. game — wild animals
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rash — hasty
  6. degree — temperature
  7. scale — size or range
  8. degree — an amount
  9. rash — a series
  10. scale — in music
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. suit — clothes
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. suit — in cards
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. suit — to fit
  19. net — for catching
  20. net — in sport
  21. game — a match
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. net — after costs
  24. scale — for weighing

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