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 120 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: arm · fork · court · cold · shower · bat · bowl · pit

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — in a road
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. cold — not warm
  7. court — of law
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. shower — rain
  24. fork — a garden tool

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