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: shower · cold · pitch · degree · arm · staff · dip · hide

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. degree — from a university
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. degree — temperature
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. dip — to sink
  13. shower — rain
  14. staff — a stick
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. pitch — completely
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — employees
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cold — the Cold War

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