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: staff · ground · hand · ball · pop · court · wind · root

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. staff — employees
  3. ground — crushed
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pop — music
  6. ground — a position
  7. pop — to visit
  8. hand — in cards
  9. ball — a dance
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pop — soda
  12. staff — employees
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. root — of a plant
  15. court — of a king
  16. wind — moving air
  17. staff — a stick
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a great time
  20. root — the cause
  21. court — for sport
  22. hand — help
  23. root — of a word
  24. ground — the earth

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