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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. march — music
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a ring
  6. hand — help
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. race — the arms race
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. race — a contest
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a match
  18. band — a music group
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. race — humankind
  21. bat — the animal
  22. march — the month
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — a loud noise

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