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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. board — a committee
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. band — a music group
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. board — to get on
  7. last — finally
  8. bass — the fish
  9. last — final
  10. degree — temperature
  11. last — to go on
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bass — low music
  14. rule — a law
  15. clip — a video
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. degree — an amount
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. degree — from a university
  24. clip — to cut

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