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: bound · straw · scale · cold · rash · capital · bark · band

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bound — tied together
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. rash — a series
  8. capital — money
  9. rash — hasty
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — obliged
  14. bark — to shout
  15. scale — in music
  16. band — a music group
  17. cold — not warm
  18. band — a ring
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. cold — an illness
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. capital — a city

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