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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. march — the month
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. chest — of your body
  5. can — to be able to
  6. branch — a division
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a music group
  9. rule — a law
  10. last — final
  11. chest — a box
  12. band — a ring
  13. chest — of your body
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rule — government
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — finally
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — a tin
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. march — music

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