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: degree · ground · stock · bat · pop · date · shower · fall

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. ground — a position
  3. shower — rain
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pop — to visit
  6. fall — to drop
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bat — the animal
  9. degree — temperature
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. fall — to drop
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stock — shares
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pop — music
  18. ground — crushed
  19. date — the fruit
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pop — soda

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