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: kid · tear · degree · march · wind · branch · file · cue

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cue — a signal
  8. kid — child
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cue — a hint
  12. branch — a division
  13. degree — temperature
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. degree — an amount
  18. file — a line of people
  19. wind — moving air
  20. file — a tool
  21. march — the month
  22. kid — to tease
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. file — a document

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