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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. race — a contest
  3. band — a ring
  4. clip — to cut
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. march — music
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. spring — a coil
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bat — the animal
  15. band — a music group
  16. spring — of water
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. march — the month
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. race — the arms race
  21. spring — the season
  22. march — the month
  23. race — humankind
  24. clip — a video

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