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: kid · land · staff · row · present · mouse · clip · fork

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. land — to come down
  4. fork — in a road
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. present — a gift
  8. staff — employees
  9. row — to paddle
  10. land — a country
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. row — a line
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. staff — employees
  15. kid — to tease
  16. present — the time now
  17. land — ground
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. kid — child
  20. staff — a stick
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. clip — to cut
  23. present — there
  24. clip — a video

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