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: band · craft · chest · root · branch · hand · race · land

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. branch — a division
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. land — ground
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. hand — help
  8. craft — boats
  9. race — a contest
  10. land — to come down
  11. race — the arms race
  12. craft — a skill
  13. root — of a plant
  14. chest — of your body
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. root — of a word
  19. hand — in cards
  20. root — the cause
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a ring
  23. race — humankind
  24. land — a country

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