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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. track — a song
  3. wind — moving air
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. hand — in cards
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — a group
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. hand — help
  10. track — a path
  11. cold — an illness
  12. track — to keep track
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wax — to grow
  16. club — for dancing
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. plane — a tool

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