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: race · court · cold · perch · pop · patient · band · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. race — a contest
  3. court — for sport
  4. race — humankind
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pop — music
  7. race — the arms race
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. perch — the fish
  10. pop — soda
  11. band — a ring
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. band — a music group
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. pop — to visit
  16. court — of law
  17. fall — the season
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. cold — not warm
  20. court — of a king
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — an illness
  24. perch — for a bird

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