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: board · degree · drill · fan · march · temple · race · cold

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — a contest
  4. march — the month
  5. drill — army training
  6. degree — an amount
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. board — to get on
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. degree — temperature
  15. drill — the tool
  16. board — a committee
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. race — humankind
  20. degree — from a university
  21. march — music
  22. cold — not warm
  23. drill — a practice
  24. march — the month

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