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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. fall — the season
  4. season — of the year
  5. tear — to rip
  6. clip — a video
  7. file — a document
  8. tear — from crying
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. scale — in music
  13. root — of a word
  14. file — a line of people
  15. wax — to grow
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — to cut
  18. root — the cause
  19. fall — to drop
  20. season — in sport
  21. file — a tool
  22. scale — size or range
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. root — of a plant

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