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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a music group
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. capital — money
  6. spring — the season
  7. club — for dancing
  8. spring — of water
  9. clip — a video
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — to cut
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. capital — a city
  14. club — a group
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. clip — for paper
  21. spring — a coil
  22. band — a ring
  23. file — a tool
  24. club — for golf

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