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: clip · hand · band · squash · pitcher · pound · wound · shower

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. clip — a video
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — a weight
  7. clip — to cut
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. shower — to wash
  11. hand — help
  12. squash — the sport
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. band — a ring
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. shower — rain
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. clip — for paper
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wound — an injury
  23. band — a music group
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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