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 116 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. ground — a position
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — in golf
  7. kid — child
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. shower — rain
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bat — the animal
  15. kid — to tease
  16. ground — the earth
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bat — in an idiom

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