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: land · net · degree · pitcher · roll · snap · court · chair

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — ground
  4. court — for sport
  5. degree — temperature
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. net — for catching
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. chair — a leader
  12. net — in sport
  13. roll — a cake
  14. land — to come down
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. land — a country
  18. court — of law
  19. roll — a list
  20. snap — to click
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. degree — from a university
  24. court — of a king

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