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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. net — in sport
  3. court — of law
  4. deal — to handle
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. scale — size or range
  11. court — for sport
  12. file — a line of people
  13. capital — money
  14. file — a tool
  15. net — after costs
  16. scale — in music
  17. net — for catching
  18. game — wild animals
  19. file — a document
  20. capital — a city
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. content — happy
  23. court — of a king
  24. content — the amount

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