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

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. snap — to click
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. field — a subject
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. pit — a hole
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. tube — a container
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. spell — magic
  15. field — for sport
  16. tube — the underground
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pit — in a race
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. spell — letters
  22. field — farmland
  23. kick — in football
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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