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: court · land · cue · mate · bass · sharp · stem · file

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. land — to come down
  4. court — for sport
  5. cue — for pool
  6. bass — low music
  7. mate — a partner
  8. cue — a hint
  9. file — a document
  10. mate — a friend
  11. cue — a signal
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. stem — to come from
  14. land — ground
  15. file — a line of people
  16. court — of a king
  17. file — a tool
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. sharp — clever
  20. court — of law
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bass — the fish
  23. land — a country
  24. sharp — with an edge

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