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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. can — to be able to
  5. cue — a signal
  6. can — a tin
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a hint
  9. band — a ring
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hand — help
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. file — a document
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. can — a tin
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. shower — to wash

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