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: clip · band · face · wave · straw · jam · mouse · cold

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. band — a music group
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. face — to confront
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. face — part of the head
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. clip — a video
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. clip — for paper
  20. face — to point toward
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. clip — to cut

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