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 · charge · face · degree · cold · staff · spring · season

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. face — to point toward
  3. season — in sport
  4. land — a country
  5. charge — a price
  6. degree — from a university
  7. season — of the year
  8. spring — of water
  9. charge — electricity
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. staff — employees
  13. spring — a coil
  14. face — to confront
  15. charge — in control
  16. spring — the season
  17. staff — a stick
  18. degree — temperature
  19. land — to come down
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. face — part of the head
  23. degree — an amount
  24. land — ground

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