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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. march — the month
  3. kid — to tease
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. present — a gift
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. band — a ring
  10. march — the month
  11. present — the time now
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. march — music
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rash — a series
  19. kid — child
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. rash — hasty
  22. present — there
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stand — to bear

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