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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. court — of law
  4. court — of a king
  5. object — to protest
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. march — the month
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. row — a line
  11. branch — a division
  12. land — a country
  13. object — an aim
  14. row — to paddle
  15. object — a thing
  16. land — ground
  17. capital — money
  18. land — to come down
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. fork — in a road
  24. capital — a city

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