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: chip · ruler · degree · rule · ground · spring · clip · bark

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rule — a law
  4. ground — crushed
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bark — to shout
  10. spring — the season
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. clip — for paper
  13. ground — the earth
  14. spring — of water
  15. rule — government
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. chip — to eat
  20. clip — to cut
  21. chip — for betting
  22. clip — a video
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ground — a position

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