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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. hand — help
  6. rash — a series
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cold — not warm
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. spell — magic
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. spell — letters
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spell — a short time
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. cold — an illness
  22. file — a tool
  23. hand — in cards
  24. band — a music group

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