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: chair · pop · tear · field · court · mine · capital · key

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — a leader
  4. capital — money
  5. court — for sport
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. key — in music
  8. field — a subject
  9. mine — for digging
  10. field — for sport
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. capital — a city
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pop — music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. court — of law
  18. tear — to rip
  19. key — the most important part
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pop — to visit
  22. field — farmland
  23. key — for a lock
  24. pop — soda

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