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 116 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. kick — in football
  6. mine — for digging
  7. key — for a lock
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. root — of a plant
  12. degree — from a university
  13. root — the cause
  14. present — the time now
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. root — of a word
  17. key — in music
  18. last — final
  19. last — finally
  20. present — a gift
  21. present — there
  22. degree — temperature
  23. last — to go on
  24. cold — an illness

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