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: deal · degree · kid · clip · bowl · patient

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kid — to tease
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. deal — to handle
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. degree — from a university
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. deal — an agreement

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