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: degree · prune · cold · board · kid · pitcher · season · court

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. board — to get on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. prune — to trim
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. season — in sport
  10. kid — to tease
  11. court — of a king
  12. cold — not warm
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. season — of the year
  15. degree — from a university
  16. board — a committee
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. degree — temperature
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. court — of law
  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