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: court · cue · march · shower · fall · file · bark · ground

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. march — music
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. ground — a position
  6. file — a line of people
  7. court — of law
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cue — a hint
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cue — a signal
  15. file — a tool
  16. court — of a king
  17. ground — crushed
  18. file — a document
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — rain
  21. bark — to shout
  22. march — the month
  23. cue — for pool
  24. march — the month

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