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 120 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: scale · race · march · band · cell · wake

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. race — humankind
  3. cell — a phone
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. march — the month
  6. band — a music group
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. march — music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. race — a contest
  13. scale — in music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. band — a ring
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. scale — for weighing

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