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: key · band · degree · spring · content · staff · firm · clip

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. clip — a video
  3. spring — the season
  4. clip — for paper
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. degree — temperature
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — an amount
  11. key — for a lock
  12. firm — a company
  13. key — the most important part
  14. content — happy
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. key — in music
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a ring
  21. firm — decided
  22. clip — to cut
  23. staff — a stick
  24. firm — steady

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