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 120 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: net · bark · field · shower · track · court · scale · bat

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. track — a song
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bat — the animal
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. field — farmland
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. net — in sport
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. net — after costs
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. track — a path
  20. scale — in music
  21. court — of law
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. track — to keep track
  24. net — for catching

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