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

Word bank: staff · kick · straw · content · degree · hand · row · wake

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. row — to paddle
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. content — happy
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. kick — in football
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. degree — temperature
  12. hand — help
  13. degree — an amount
  14. content — the amount
  15. wake — a trail
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. hand — in cards
  19. row — a line
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. staff — a stick
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. degree — from a university
  24. straw — dry grass

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