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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. content — the amount
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. rush — hurry
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. branch — a division
  13. pitch — completely
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. plane — a tool
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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