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: band · pound · wave · land · degree · chest · lean · content

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. content — happy
  3. band — a ring
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — a country
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. band — a music group
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. chest — a box
  14. pound — a weight
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. lean — thin
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. lean — to bend
  23. content — the amount
  24. land — ground

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