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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. degree — from a university
  3. craft — a skill
  4. cold — an illness
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. band — a ring
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rush — hurry
  11. kid — child
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. kid — to tease
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. cold — not warm
  23. craft — boats
  24. degree — temperature

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