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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rest — a break
  8. bank — for money
  9. rest — what's left
  10. march — music
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bank — for money
  13. mine — for digging
  14. band — a music group
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — an illness
  21. current — of water
  22. current — happening now
  23. bank — of a river
  24. current — electric

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