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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. clip — for paper
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. bass — low music
  6. game — wild animals
  7. court — of law
  8. bass — the fish
  9. field — for sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. game — a match
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. field — a subject
  14. pop — music
  15. pop — to visit
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. clip — to cut
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. pop — soda
  23. pit — a hole
  24. pit — in a race

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