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: stock · temple · degree · rule · clip · rush · march · kid

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rule — government
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. stock — goods
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rule — a law
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — to cut
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. march — music
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. clip — a video
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. stock — shares
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. rush — hurry
  23. march — the month
  24. rush — a thrill

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