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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rash — hasty
  3. roll — a list
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. wound — an injury
  6. court — of a king
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. fine — all right
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. wound — an injury
  13. branch — a division
  14. degree — temperature
  15. band — a ring
  16. rash — a series
  17. roll — a cake
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. band — a music group
  21. court — for sport
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. fine — high quality
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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