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: cell · degree · nail · content · staff · spell · ground · club

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. degree — an amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. staff — employees
  5. cell — in biology
  6. club — for golf
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. ground — crushed
  9. spell — letters
  10. ground — the earth
  11. staff — employees
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. ground — a position
  15. staff — a stick
  16. cell — a phone
  17. spell — a short time
  18. club — a group
  19. degree — temperature
  20. content — the amount
  21. spell — magic
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. club — for dancing

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