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 120 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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. wax — to grow
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — to keep track
  9. club — for dancing
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. club — for golf
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. club — a group
  17. track — a path
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. capital — a city
  20. can — a tin
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. track — a song
  24. can — to be able to

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