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 116 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: spring · degree · land · race · bulb · last · cold · vault

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — ground
  3. race — a contest
  4. land — to come down
  5. spring — the season
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. race — humankind
  9. cold — not warm
  10. last — to go on
  11. vault — a safe
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bulb — for light
  15. degree — temperature
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. race — the arms race
  19. spring — of water
  20. bulb — for light
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — an amount
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. land — a country

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