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

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. sharp — clever
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. content — happy
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. court — of law
  16. vault — a safe
  17. fork — in a road
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. content — the amount
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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