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 120 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: degree · branch · temple · march · clip · game

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. march — the month
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. clip — for paper
  8. game — wild animals
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. march — the month
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. branch — a division
  15. game — a match
  16. clip — a video
  17. march — music
  18. game — a kind of play

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