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: shower · track · tube · game · spring · squash · ball · degree

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. squash — the sport
  3. ball — a dance
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — of water
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. degree — from a university
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. shower — rain
  11. degree — temperature
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. squash — to crush
  14. degree — an amount
  15. shower — to wash
  16. tube — a container
  17. ball — a great time
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a match
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. track — a path
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  24. ball — a round shape

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