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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. ball — a great time
  6. cold — not warm
  7. game — a match
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. game — wild animals
  16. wax — to grow
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. cold — an illness
  24. row — a quarrel

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