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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. rule — government
  3. drill — army training
  4. wind — moving air
  5. hand — in cards
  6. band — a music group
  7. drill — a practice
  8. band — a ring
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. content — happy
  11. drill — the tool
  12. content — the amount
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. rule — a law
  15. wind — moving air
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. hand — help
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. rule — to rule out

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