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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. face — to confront
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. band — a music group
  6. face — to point toward
  7. race — humankind
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. net — after costs
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. wound — an injury
  15. race — the arms race
  16. face — part of the head
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cold — not warm
  19. net — for catching
  20. band — a ring
  21. net — in sport
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cold — an illness

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