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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pitch · band · cell · cold · wake · hide

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cell — in biology
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — a trail
  8. cold — an illness
  9. band — a music group
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cell — a phone
  12. pitch — completely
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. wake — to stop sleeping

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