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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. march — the month
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. march — the month
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. cold — an illness
  11. sharp — clever
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. lie — to recline
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. row — to paddle
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. row — a line
  23. march — music
  24. lie — an untruth

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