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: ball · court · march · row · scale · shower · current · clip

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. clip — to cut
  5. shower — to wash
  6. march — music
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. current — electric
  9. march — the month
  10. ball — a great time
  11. current — of water
  12. ball — a dance
  13. row — to paddle
  14. clip — a video
  15. court — of a king
  16. march — the month
  17. current — happening now
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. clip — for paper
  20. scale — in music
  21. row — a line
  22. scale — size or range
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. ball — a round shape

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