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 120 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: cold · bulb · degree · march · cell · lash · dip · bank

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. march — music
  4. bank — for money
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. march — the month
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bank — for money
  14. dip — to sink
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. bulb — for light
  18. march — the month
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bank — of a river
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — temperature
  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