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: scale · season · kick · cold · calf · pitcher · court · stock

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. scale — size or range
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. season — of the year
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. kick — in football
  16. court — of a king
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. season — in sport
  19. stock — goods
  20. scale — in music
  21. court — of law
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. court — for sport

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