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: degree · jam · field · lash · fork · clip · file · chair

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — farmland
  5. clip — to cut
  6. degree — temperature
  7. file — a line of people
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. clip — a video
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fork — in a road
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. clip — for paper
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. field — for sport
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. chair — a leader
  24. field — a subject

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