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: track · band · pitch · court · content · bass · field · squash

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. field — a subject
  5. bass — the fish
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. content — happy
  8. band — a ring
  9. content — the amount
  10. court — of a king
  11. track — to keep track
  12. pitch — completely
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. squash — the sport
  16. track — a path
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. track — a song
  20. court — for sport
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. court — of law
  24. band — a music group

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