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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wax — to grow
  3. clip — a video
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. clip — for paper
  10. degree — from a university
  11. hand — in cards
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. land — a country
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. land — to come down
  19. degree — an amount
  20. land — ground
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. clip — to cut

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