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 120 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: temple · craft · prune · degree · field · clip · face · mug

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. prune — to trim
  5. face — to confront
  6. craft — boats
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. face — part of the head
  9. mug — a face
  10. prune — to trim
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. clip — a video
  13. mug — a cup
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. craft — a skill
  17. mug — to rob
  18. clip — to cut
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. clip — for paper
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — a subject
  23. face — to point toward
  24. prune — the fruit

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