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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  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. band — a ring
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — a weight
  5. saw — the tool
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cell — in biology
  8. content — happy
  9. mark — a trace
  10. bass — low music
  11. degree — from a university
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. content — the amount
  14. mark — a grade
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. saw — the tool
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bass — the fish
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. band — a music group
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bass — the instrument
  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