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 116 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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. clip — for paper
  3. court — of law
  4. wax — to grow
  5. clip — to cut
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. net — for catching
  10. clip — a video
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. net — after costs
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. net — in sport
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. mine — for digging
  23. shower — rain
  24. wax — for sculpting

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