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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. content — the amount
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. stem — to come from
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. game — wild animals
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — to grow
  14. spring — the season
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. spring — a coil
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. game — a match
  19. content — happy
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cold — not warm
  22. saw — the tool
  23. vault — a safe
  24. spring — of water

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