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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a dance
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. ground — the earth
  9. tube — the underground
  10. band — a music group
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — to shout
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. tube — a container
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. ground — a position

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