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: rash · wind · lie · plane · mine · degree · spring · clip

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rash — a series
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. spring — of water
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. rash — hasty
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. clip — a video
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. plane — a tool
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. degree — an amount

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