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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. rash — a series
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rash — hasty
  10. mine — for digging
  11. band — a music group
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. clip — a video
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. season — of the year
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. tear — from crying
  19. clip — for paper
  20. season — in sport
  21. tear — to rip
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. tear — from crying
  24. band — a ring

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