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 · swing · press · bark · tear · game · land · lie

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. land — a country
  3. tear — to rip
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bark — to shout
  6. lie — to recline
  7. press — to push
  8. land — to come down
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — a publisher
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — temperature
  18. swing — in golf
  19. game — a match
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. swing — music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — ground
  24. lie — an untruth

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