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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. field — a subject
  3. capital — a city
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. wound — an injury
  6. field — for sport
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. capital — money
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. fork — in a road
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. rush — hurry
  21. bore — to tire
  22. field — farmland
  23. bore — to drill
  24. rush — a thrill

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