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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rush — hurry
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. swing — to play on
  11. pitch — completely
  12. race — the arms race
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. sharp — clever
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stock — shares
  17. swing — music
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. race — a contest
  22. swing — in golf
  23. clip — a video
  24. race — humankind

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