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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — to handle
  3. court — for sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. court — of a king
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. sharp — clever
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. court — of law
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. clip — a video
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. clip — for paper
  22. stand — to bear
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bat — the animal

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