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: court · chair · dip · trunk · content · saw · tear · field

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. content — happy
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. court — for sport
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. content — the amount
  7. tear — from crying
  8. saw — the tool
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. chair — a leader
  11. saw — the tool
  12. field — a subject
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. dip — to sink
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. court — of law
  17. tear — to rip
  18. field — farmland
  19. court — of a king
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. tear — from crying
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. dip — to dunk
  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