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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. field — for sport
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. mine — for digging
  6. court — for sport
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — hurry
  12. field — a subject
  13. tear — from crying
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bass — the fish
  18. swing — to play on
  19. bass — low music
  20. court — of a king
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. field — farmland
  24. bass — the instrument

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