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 120 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: wind · fork · degree · drill · shower · perch · saw · chest

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. degree — temperature
  7. shower — to wash
  8. drill — army training
  9. chest — a box
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. degree — from a university
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wind — moving air
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — an amount
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. shower — rain
  22. drill — a practice
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. drill — the tool

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