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 120 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. sharp — clever
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. court — of law
  7. cold — not warm
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. current — electric
  12. field — for sport
  13. game — wild animals
  14. current — of water
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fork — in a road
  17. field — a subject
  18. cold — an illness
  19. field — farmland
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. game — a match
  22. lean — to bend
  23. lean — thin
  24. current — happening now

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