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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. content — the amount
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. pit — a hole
  5. swing — in golf
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kick — in football
  8. swing — music
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. pit — in a race
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. swing — to play on
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. content — happy
  21. fork — in a road
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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