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: coach · degree · kid · bat · cold · cap · root · wake

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. bat — the animal
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wake — a trail
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cold — an illness
  10. root — of a plant
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. root — the cause
  14. degree — temperature
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. cap — a lid
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. root — of a word
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cap — of ice

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