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: stock · date · straw · bowl · tube · cold · suit · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tube — a container
  8. suit — clothes
  9. court — of a king
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. court — for sport
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tube — the underground
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. stock — shares
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. suit — in cards
  20. date — the fruit
  21. suit — to fit
  22. stock — goods
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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