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: court · season · can · degree · file · club · band · snap

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. can — to be able to
  3. court — of a king
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. degree — from a university
  6. court — of law
  7. club — a group
  8. degree — an amount
  9. club — for golf
  10. band — a music group
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. season — in sport
  13. file — a document
  14. degree — temperature
  15. season — of the year
  16. file — a tool
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. court — for sport
  19. band — a ring
  20. file — a line of people
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. can — a tin
  23. snap — to click
  24. can — a tin

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