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: shower · degree · rash · chest · coach · march · net · board

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. rash — a series
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. degree — from a university
  6. march — music
  7. net — after costs
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. degree — temperature
  10. march — the month
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. board — a committee
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. rash — hasty
  16. chest — of your body
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. net — in sport
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. board — to get on
  23. net — for catching
  24. degree — an amount

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