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: stem · bat · cold · degree · pound · cap

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cold — not warm
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bat — the animal
  8. stem — to come from
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pound — a weight
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cap — of ice
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. cap — a lid
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stem — a stem cell

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