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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. current — electric
  3. court — for sport
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. current — happening now
  6. ground — crushed
  7. drill — army training
  8. clip — to cut
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. rock — a stone
  12. kid — to tease
  13. current — of water
  14. squash — the sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. clip — for paper
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. court — of law
  24. clip — a video

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