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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pitch · court · stick · capital · land · swing · sharp · arm

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. court — for sport
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. capital — a city
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. land — ground
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. court — of a king
  14. land — to come down
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pitch — completely
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. capital — money
  19. land — a country
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — in golf

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