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: last · ball · mine · pass · band · file · straw · capital

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. last — finally
  4. ball — a dance
  5. band — a music group
  6. file — a document
  7. pass — a permit
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. capital — money
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. capital — a city
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — final
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mine — for digging
  21. ball — a great time
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. file — a tool

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