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: sharp · field · net · degree · scale · spring · court · rush

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. net — in sport
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. sharp — clever
  7. scale — in music
  8. court — for sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. rush — hurry
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. spring — of water
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. net — after costs
  16. field — farmland
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — size or range
  19. field — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. net — for catching
  22. spring — a coil
  23. field — a subject
  24. court — of a king

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