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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. swing — music
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — a city
  5. content — the amount
  6. swing — in golf
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hand — help
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — happy
  13. court — of law
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. capital — money
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. swing — to play on
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. court — of a king
  21. pound — a weight
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. hand — in cards

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