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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — soda
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. toast — bread
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a ring
  13. tube — a container
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. wound — an injury
  16. march — music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tube — the underground
  19. chest — of your body
  20. clip — a video
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. pop — music
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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