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: land · march · cue · bore · band · straw · file · kid

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — to drill
  3. cue — for pool
  4. cue — a hint
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. kid — child
  8. land — to come down
  9. file — a tool
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. file — a line of people
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. cue — a signal
  18. file — a document
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. band — a music group
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. kid — to tease
  23. march — music
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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