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: degree · roll · current · cold · rash · bat · band · cell

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. current — electric
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. cell — a phone
  5. current — happening now
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. band — a music group
  10. cold — not warm
  11. degree — an amount
  12. current — of water
  13. band — a ring
  14. rash — a series
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — a cake
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cold — an illness
  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