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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. court — for sport
  3. game — wild animals
  4. court — of law
  5. net — for catching
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. club — a group
  8. cold — not warm
  9. court — of a king
  10. club — for dancing
  11. net — after costs
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. club — for golf
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. band — a music group
  17. prune — to trim
  18. net — in sport
  19. band — a ring
  20. prune — to trim
  21. tube — a container
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. tube — the underground

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