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: bowl · court · wind · shower · bat · branch · sharp · chair

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. chair — a leader
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bat — the animal
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wind — moving air
  15. sharp — clever
  16. shower — rain
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. branch — a division
  24. wind — moving air

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