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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. court — for sport
  3. ground — crushed
  4. chest — a box
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. hand — help
  7. court — of a king
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. ball — a great time
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. toast — bread
  13. ground — a position
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. hand — in cards
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bat — the animal
  18. court — of law
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — to crush
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. bat — in an idiom

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