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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. field — a subject
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. field — farmland
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — to cut
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. race — a contest
  14. clip — a video
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. field — for sport
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. clip — for paper
  22. snap — to click
  23. race — the arms race
  24. racket — a loud noise

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