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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. last — to go on
  3. face — to confront
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. fine — all right
  6. spell — letters
  7. face — part of the head
  8. band — a ring
  9. capital — money
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. band — a music group
  15. fine — high quality
  16. kid — child
  17. face — to point toward
  18. capital — a city
  19. last — final
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spell — magic
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. spell — a short time

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