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: degree · straw · mate · charge · stock · spring · wave · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. charge — a price
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. charge — in control
  5. mate — a friend
  6. charge — electricity
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. mate — a partner
  9. cold — not warm
  10. spring — the season
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. spring — of water
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. stock — shares
  16. degree — an amount
  17. mate — to breed
  18. spring — a coil
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — goods
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cold — the Cold War

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