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 116 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: rash · clip · field · ground · branch · mate · land · degree

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. rash — a series
  3. degree — temperature
  4. land — a country
  5. field — a subject
  6. branch — a division
  7. clip — to cut
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. ground — a position
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rash — hasty
  13. field — farmland
  14. mate — a friend
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. clip — for paper
  17. degree — an amount
  18. land — ground
  19. land — to come down
  20. clip — a video
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a partner
  23. field — for sport
  24. ground — the earth

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