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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. mate — a partner
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ground — the earth
  6. rule — government
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. ground — crushed
  10. mate — to breed
  11. cold — not warm
  12. race — a contest
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — humankind
  22. ground — a position
  23. rule — a law
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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