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: trunk · band · clip · swing · last · wound · wax · roll

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. band — a ring
  3. last — to go on
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. swing — to play on
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. roll — a cake
  10. last — final
  11. clip — to cut
  12. roll — a list
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — a video
  15. last — finally
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. band — a music group
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. clip — for paper

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