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: cell · cold · band · chest · club · dip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. band — a ring
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cell — a phone
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. dip — to sink
  10. cell — in biology
  11. band — a music group
  12. club — for golf
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cold — not warm
  15. club — for dancing
  16. chest — a box
  17. cold — an illness
  18. club — a group

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