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: land · sharp · court · cold · mate · pitch · bowl · degree

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. pitch — completely
  4. land — ground
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. mate — a partner
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cold — not warm
  10. land — a country
  11. degree — an amount
  12. cold — an illness
  13. land — to come down
  14. mate — to breed
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — for sport
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. court — of law
  20. degree — from a university
  21. mate — a friend
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. degree — temperature

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