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: spring · stock · capital · squash · degree · tube · rash · perch

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. spring — of water
  3. degree — an amount
  4. squash — to crush
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — hasty
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. degree — from a university
  9. capital — money
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. stock — shares
  12. tube — a container
  13. stock — goods
  14. tube — the underground
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. degree — temperature
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. spring — a coil
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. perch — the fish
  21. squash — the sport
  22. capital — a city
  23. spring — the season
  24. tube — in a tire

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