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 116 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: race · file · court · stem · drill · mine · bat · pitch

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. file — a line of people
  3. stem — to come from
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. race — humankind
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. race — a contest
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. court — for sport
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. drill — a practice
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. drill — army training
  18. race — the arms race
  19. drill — the tool
  20. file — a document
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. pitch — completely
  24. file — a 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