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: date · tear · shower · content · ball · degree · can · lie

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. degree — from a university
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. can — a tin
  7. lie — to recline
  8. can — to be able to
  9. shower — to wash
  10. tear — from crying
  11. date — the fruit
  12. ball — a great time
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. can — a tin
  16. tear — from crying
  17. degree — an amount
  18. ball — a dance
  19. content — the amount
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. degree — temperature
  24. tear — to rip

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