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

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ground — crushed
  5. court — of law
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. ground — a position
  8. scale — in music
  9. court — for sport
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. court — of a king
  12. kid — child
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wound — an injury
  17. scale — size or range
  18. racket — for tennis

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