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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. press — a publisher
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. field — farmland
  9. press — newspapers
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. field — a subject
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — a match
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — a series
  17. field — for sport
  18. game — wild animals
  19. court — of law
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. lie — to recline

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