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: content · chest · court · drill · hand · pitcher · scale · wind

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chest — of your body
  5. scale — in music
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. content — happy
  8. drill — army training
  9. court — of a king
  10. content — the amount
  11. wind — moving air
  12. hand — help
  13. court — of law
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chest — a box
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. drill — a practice
  20. court — for sport
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. drill — the tool
  23. wind — moving air
  24. scale — for weighing

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