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: row · chair · tear · key · kid · degree · cold · trunk

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. key — in music
  4. degree — an amount
  5. row — a line
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chair — a leader
  9. tear — to rip
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. key — the most important part
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — child
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. tear — from crying
  24. key — for a lock

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