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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — for paper
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. key — the most important part
  9. clip — to cut
  10. hand — in cards
  11. wax — to grow
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. march — the month
  16. perch — the fish
  17. march — the month
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. key — for a lock
  20. clip — a video
  21. key — in music
  22. march — music
  23. rule — government
  24. land — to come down

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