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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. court — of a king
  3. spring — a coil
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. game — wild animals
  8. court — of law
  9. band — a music group
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. court — for sport
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wax — to grow
  18. game — a match
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. clip — a video
  24. band — a ring

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