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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spell — magic
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mine — for digging
  5. squash — to crush
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. wax — to grow
  8. tube — the underground
  9. charge — electricity
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. clip — for paper
  14. spell — letters
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. field — farmland
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. tube — a container
  21. clip — a video
  22. spell — a short time
  23. charge — a price
  24. charge — in control

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