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

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cold — not warm
  4. land — to come down
  5. bound — obliged
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. mug — a face
  8. court — of law
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bound — certain
  12. mug — to rob
  13. bound — tied together
  14. court — of a king
  15. mug — a cup
  16. cold — an illness
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. land — ground
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the sport
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. land — a country
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — the Cold War

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