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 · shower · clip · mouse · degree · mine · rash · bay

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. degree — an amount
  6. clip — to cut
  7. ground — a position
  8. clip — a video
  9. degree — temperature
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. shower — rain
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. shower — to wash
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — hasty
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. rash — a series

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