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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. band — a ring
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. hand — help
  5. content — the amount
  6. present — the time now
  7. present — there
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. band — a music group
  11. present — a gift
  12. content — happy
  13. field — farmland
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bass — the fish
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. content — videos and posts

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