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 120 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. snap — to click
  7. cold — not warm
  8. plane — a tool
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cap — a hat
  12. press — to push
  13. cap — of ice
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — temperature
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — newspapers
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. degree — an amount
  24. hide — animal skin

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