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: spring · ground · squash · cap · degree · game · charge · pitch

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. charge — a price
  3. degree — an amount
  4. game — a match
  5. ground — crushed
  6. degree — temperature
  7. spring — of water
  8. game — wild animals
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — completely
  11. degree — from a university
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cap — of ice
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. cap — a hat
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. ground — a position
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cap — a lid
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. ground — the earth
  24. charge — in control

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