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: spring · hand · bass · wind · tube · date · file · rash

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. rash — hasty
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. bass — the fish
  6. date — the fruit
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. file — a line of people
  11. spring — of water
  12. rash — a series
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bass — low music
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. wind — moving air
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — a coil

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