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: craft · cold · rest · saw · kid · squash · field · court

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. saw — the tool
  3. court — of law
  4. craft — boats
  5. squash — the sport
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. field — for sport
  8. cold — an illness
  9. court — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. kid — child
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. rest — a break
  17. craft — a skill
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kid — to tease
  21. rest — what's left
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. field — a subject
  24. court — of a king

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