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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rash — hasty
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pit — in a race
  6. pit — a hole
  7. bat — the animal
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. court — of law
  11. drill — army training
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. court — of a king
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rash — a series
  23. pitch — completely
  24. court — for sport

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