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: pound · band · land · wake · tear · bat · season · tube

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. band — a ring
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — of the year
  5. land — to come down
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wake — a trail
  9. tube — a container
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. band — a music group
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pound — a weight
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bat — the animal
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. tube — the underground

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