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: shower · stick · cold · tear · band · object

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. object — a thing
  3. tear — to rip
  4. shower — to wash
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. object — to protest
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. band — a ring
  16. cold — an illness
  17. object — an aim
  18. shower — rain

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