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 120 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: cold · pound · perch · wound · degree · capital · cue · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cue — for pool
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — an amount
  9. pound — a weight
  10. cue — a hint
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. perch — the fish
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chest — a box
  19. cue — a signal
  20. wound — an injury
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. capital — money
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — from a university

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