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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chest — a box
  7. root — of a plant
  8. court — of a king
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — a group
  11. court — of law
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — the animal
  14. club — for dancing
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. net — after costs
  18. root — of a word
  19. net — for catching
  20. root — the cause
  21. chest — of your body
  22. court — for sport
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. net — in sport

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