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: wound · branch · net · spring · club · content · court · patient

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. club — for golf
  3. wound — an injury
  4. club — a group
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. content — happy
  7. net — for catching
  8. wound — an injury
  9. content — the amount
  10. spring — a coil
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. court — for sport
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spring — of water
  16. club — for dancing
  17. spring — the season
  18. net — after costs
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. net — in sport
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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