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: bat · shower · coach · court · land · band · roll · fan

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bat — the animal
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. land — a country
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. shower — to wash
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. band — a ring
  13. roll — a cake
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. roll — a list
  16. shower — rain
  17. band — a music group
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — for sport
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. court — of law
  24. land — to come down

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