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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. court — of law
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. court — of a king
  5. ground — a position
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. court — for sport
  9. game — a match
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. ground — crushed
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — an illness
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. ground — the earth
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. roll — a list
  20. roll — a cake
  21. foot — a measure
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. cold — not warm

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