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: swing · clip · pass · band · wake · field · hand · scale

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. band — a ring
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pass — a permit
  7. wake — a trail
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. clip — a video
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. clip — to cut
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. hand — help
  19. band — a music group
  20. clip — for paper
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. field — for sport
  24. swing — in golf

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