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: cold · chair · march · rule · face · band

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. face — part of the head
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. cold — not warm
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a music group
  9. face — to confront
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rule — a law
  13. band — a ring
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. face — to point toward
  17. march — music
  18. chair — a leader

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