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: pop · band · spring · sharp · cold · wax · clip · bound

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. spring — the season
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pop — to visit
  8. band — a music group
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. clip — a video
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bound — tied together
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cold — an illness
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pop — music
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bound — certain
  22. band — a ring
  23. pop — soda
  24. band — a rubber band

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