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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. band — a music group
  5. bass — low music
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bass — the fish
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bear — the animal
  16. march — the month
  17. lean — to bend
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cell — in biology
  20. band — a ring
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cell — a phone

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