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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. club — a group
  3. clip — for paper
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. degree — an amount
  8. snap — to click
  9. court — of law
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. press — newspapers
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. club — for golf
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. press — to push
  17. press — a publisher
  18. clip — to cut
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wound — an injury
  21. club — for dancing
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — of a king
  24. clip — a video

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