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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. kid — to tease
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chip — for betting
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. court — for sport
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. degree — from a university
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. row — to paddle
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. chip — to eat
  19. court — of law
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. kid — child
  22. deal — to handle
  23. degree — temperature
  24. chip — in a computer

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