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: rock · court · field · cell · arm · last · march · pitcher

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. last — final
  3. court — of law
  4. last — to go on
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. rock — a stone
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. march — music
  9. cell — in biology
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. field — a subject
  13. rock — music
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. court — of a king
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. march — the month
  19. cell — a phone
  20. march — the month
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. field — farmland
  23. last — finally
  24. field — 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