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: face · degree · swing · rule · spring · chest

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rule — government
  3. degree — an amount
  4. face — to point toward
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — temperature
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. degree — from a university
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — in golf
  13. spring — the season
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — music
  16. chest — a box
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water

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