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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cold — not warm
  10. capital — a city
  11. cold — an illness
  12. land — ground
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wind — moving air
  20. land — a country
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. capital — money
  24. land — to come down

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