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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. swing — in golf
  4. date — the fruit
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — an illness
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cold — not warm
  13. court — of law
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. court — for sport
  22. deal — to handle
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — music

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