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 · track · bark · mine · tear · perch · jam · root

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. tear — from crying
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. track — a song
  7. root — of a plant
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. degree — an amount
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. degree — temperature
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. root — of a word
  17. bark — to shout
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. degree — from a university
  20. root — the cause
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. track — to keep track
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. track — a path

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