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: kid · tear · degree · march · wind · branch

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. branch — a division
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wind — moving air
  5. tear — from crying
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. march — music
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. degree — an amount
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — the month
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kid — to tease
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — of a tree

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