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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — hurry
  4. deal — to handle
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wind — moving air
  7. row — to paddle
  8. net — after costs
  9. row — a line
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. file — a tool
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. kick — in football
  15. net — in sport
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. wind — moving air
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. cell — in biology
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. file — a document
  24. net — for catching

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