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: lash · court · swing · cold · wake · degree · pound · perch

  1. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. perch — the fish
  3. swing — music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. court — of law
  12. swing — in golf
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. swing — to play on
  20. court — of a king
  21. wake — a trail
  22. court — for sport
  23. pound — a weight
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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