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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. net — for catching
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. field — farmland
  6. court — of a king
  7. net — after costs
  8. fall — to drop
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. game — a match
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. net — in sport
  13. court — for sport
  14. game — wild animals
  15. field — a subject
  16. shower — rain
  17. field — for sport
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chair — a leader
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. fall — the season
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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