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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. roll — a list
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. march — music
  6. pit — a hole
  7. court — of law
  8. fork — in a road
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. land — ground
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. land — to come down
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. court — of a king
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pit — in a race
  17. roll — a cake
  18. march — the month
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. kid — child
  21. march — the month
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. land — a country

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