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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. band — a music group
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. file — a document
  10. bear — the animal
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. cold — an illness
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bear — the animal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. file — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. file — a line of people
  23. tube — the underground
  24. wax — to grow

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