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: ground · clip · nail · net · degree · wound · wind · pound

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. net — for catching
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ground — the earth
  9. clip — a video
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. wound — an injury
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wound — an injury
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. net — in sport
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. ground — a position
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pound — a weight
  23. net — after costs
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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