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: swing · capital · patient · degree · wound · kick

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. swing — in golf
  3. degree — from a university
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. capital — a city
  8. kick — in football
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. degree — temperature
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. wound — an injury

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