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: straw · prune · capital · mug · band · face · club · cold

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. club — for golf
  6. face — part of the head
  7. club — for dancing
  8. face — to point toward
  9. club — a group
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. mug — to rob
  13. face — to confront
  14. capital — a city
  15. mug — a face
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mug — a cup
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — not warm
  22. capital — money
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cold — an illness

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