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: staff · stand · game · straw · band · saw · cold · prune

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. staff — employees
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. staff — a stick
  8. prune — to trim
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. saw — the tool
  13. band — a ring
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. staff — employees
  16. game — a match
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cold — an illness
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. saw — the tool
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. band — a music group

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