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 112 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: safe · degree · cold · capital · row · tube

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. tube — a container
  4. degree — from a university
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — not warm
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. capital — a city
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. row — to paddle
  11. degree — temperature
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — a line
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cold — an illness

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