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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. pitch — completely
  5. tube — the underground
  6. court — of law
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. present — a gift
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. tube — a container
  17. court — of a king
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. present — the time now
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. present — there

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