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: swing · rush · chair · sharp · fall · clip · degree · fine

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. sharp — clever
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. clip — for paper
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. clip — to cut
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fall — to drop
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. degree — from a university
  14. fine — high quality
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. clip — a video
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fall — the season
  22. fine — all right
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. fall — to drop

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