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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. tube — a container
  4. court — of a king
  5. ball — a dance
  6. can — a tin
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cold — an illness
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — from a university
  13. land — to come down
  14. game — a match
  15. can — to be able to
  16. court — for sport
  17. degree — temperature
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. land — a country
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. degree — an amount
  22. land — ground
  23. court — of law
  24. tube — the underground

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