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: land · shower · kick · degree · march · season · tube · board

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — temperature
  3. march — the month
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. land — ground
  8. march — the month
  9. land — a country
  10. kick — in football
  11. degree — from a university
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. board — a committee
  14. degree — an amount
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — a container
  20. board — to get on
  21. land — to come down
  22. shower — rain
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. march — music

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