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 116 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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. fall — the season
  5. face — to point toward
  6. hand — in cards
  7. clip — to cut
  8. hand — help
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. face — to confront
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. clip — a video
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. face — part of the head
  22. court — of a king
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. hand — part of the body

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