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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — to tease
  5. can — a tin
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. can — a tin
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — magic
  11. kid — child
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. bear — the animal
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. can — to be able to
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bat — the animal
  20. spell — a short time
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — to rip

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