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: chest · straw · can · cap · march · band · net · capital

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. capital — money
  3. chest — of your body
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. can — a tin
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. can — to be able to
  8. march — the month
  9. chest — a box
  10. net — in sport
  11. capital — a city
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. march — the month
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — a lid
  17. chest — of your body
  18. march — music
  19. can — a tin
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. cap — of ice

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