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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bat — the animal
  4. chest — of your body
  5. squash — the sport
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. squash — to crush
  8. saw — the tool
  9. file — a tool
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. deal — to handle
  13. file — a document
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. file — a line of people
  18. court — for sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. vault — a safe
  21. court — of law
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. chest — a box
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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