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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. court — of a king
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. race — the arms race
  5. court — of law
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. race — a contest
  11. chair — a leader
  12. track — a song
  13. wound — an injury
  14. court — for sport
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pop — to visit
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. pop — music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. track — a path
  21. wound — an injury
  22. race — humankind
  23. pop — soda
  24. shower — rain

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