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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. root — of a plant
  3. tube — a container
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — to grow
  6. clip — to cut
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. game — wild animals
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. clip — a video
  14. spring — a coil
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. root — of a word
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. root — the cause
  21. spring — the season
  22. clip — for paper
  23. tube — the underground
  24. court — of law

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