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: saw · cold · fall · tube · race · staff · band · fork

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. race — a contest
  3. tube — the underground
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. band — a ring
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. race — the arms race
  9. fall — the season
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. race — humankind
  14. band — a music group
  15. staff — employees
  16. tube — a container
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. fall — to drop
  21. saw — the tool
  22. fork — in a road
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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