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: saw · degree · content · key · stock · shower · wave · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. saw — the tool
  3. degree — from a university
  4. shower — rain
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. degree — an amount
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. key — in music
  11. saw — the tool
  12. key — for a lock
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — the most important part
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. degree — temperature
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. stock — goods

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