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: chest · mine · lean · pass · shower · swing · band · cold

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pass — a permit
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. band — a ring
  7. lean — to bend
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — a box
  12. shower — rain
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. swing — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. swing — to play on
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. lean — thin
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — belonging to me

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