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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bark — to shout
  3. club — for dancing
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. cold — an illness
  7. club — a group
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. track — to keep track
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — a path
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. degree — temperature
  18. track — a song
  19. plane — a tool
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. club — for golf
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. degree — from a university

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