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: degree · ground · wound · cue · coach · hand · ball · tear

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cue — a signal
  3. degree — temperature
  4. ball — a dance
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ground — the earth
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cue — for pool
  16. degree — from a university
  17. ground — a position
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. tear — to rip
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. tear — from crying
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. cue — a hint

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