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 116 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: bark · charge · net · march · cold · degree · bulb · tube

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. net — after costs
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. march — the month
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. charge — a price
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. charge — in control
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — a container
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. bark — to shout
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. charge — electricity
  24. degree — temperature

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