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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: plane · degree · date · rule · row · cell

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. rule — government
  4. date — the fruit
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. plane — a tool
  14. degree — an amount
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. row — a line
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. degree — temperature

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