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: field · wind · temple · court · cold · staff · deal · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. staff — employees
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. deal — to handle
  13. field — for sport
  14. chair — a leader
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. court — for sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. court — of a king
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. court — of law

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