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

Word bank: row · march · pop · fork · hand · toast · bear · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — help
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. toast — bread
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. pop — soda
  7. fork — in a road
  8. march — music
  9. content — the amount
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. march — the month
  12. bear — the animal
  13. hand — in cards
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bear — the animal
  18. pop — to visit
  19. march — the month
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. row — a line
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. row — to paddle
  24. pop — music

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