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 116 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wax — to grow
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bear — the animal
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cell — in biology
  13. march — music
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. bear — the animal
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — the animal

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