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: bear · chair · spring · chest · vault · stock · pitch · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — a leader
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. court — for sport
  7. bear — the animal
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. stock — goods
  15. spring — the season
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. chest — a box
  18. vault — a safe
  19. spring — of water
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. stock — shares
  23. court — of law
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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