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: kid · chip · bay · deal · degree · cold · clip · bulb

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. chip — for betting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kid — child
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. deal — to handle
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. clip — a video
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. bulb — for light
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. degree — from a university
  24. clip — for paper

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