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: field · clip · bound · chair · nail · chip · court · land

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bound — obliged
  3. clip — for paper
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bound — certain
  8. field — for sport
  9. chip — for betting
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. court — of law
  12. clip — a video
  13. field — farmland
  14. court — of a king
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. court — for sport
  18. land — to come down
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. clip — to cut
  21. field — a subject
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bound — tied together
  24. chip — to eat

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