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: capital · current · scale · mate · clip · rest · degree · last

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. capital — a city
  3. mate — to breed
  4. degree — an amount
  5. clip — to cut
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rest — what's left
  8. current — electric
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. degree — temperature
  11. last — final
  12. mate — a friend
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. clip — for paper
  17. scale — in music
  18. last — to go on
  19. mate — a partner
  20. scale — size or range
  21. capital — money
  22. current — happening now
  23. current — of water
  24. last — finally

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