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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. rush — hurry
  4. branch — a division
  5. clip — for paper
  6. game — a match
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cold — not warm
  10. game — wild animals
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. degree — temperature
  13. clip — a video
  14. plane — a tool
  15. clip — to cut
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. degree — from a university
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cold — the Cold War

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