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 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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. file — a tool
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. hand — help
  9. bass — the fish
  10. file — a line of people
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. degree — an amount
  13. hand — in cards
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. file — a document
  18. lie — to recline

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