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

Word bank: ball · rash · field · court · pop · shower · dip · mine

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ball — a dance
  3. pop — to visit
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. pop — music
  6. field — farmland
  7. ball — a great time
  8. field — a subject
  9. rash — hasty
  10. dip — to sink
  11. court — of law
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pop — soda
  15. mine — for digging
  16. field — for sport
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. shower — rain
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. court — of a king
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. rash — a series
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. shower — to wash

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