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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. clip — a video
  6. rash — a series
  7. cell — a phone
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. hand — help
  11. last — finally
  12. last — final
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. hand — in cards
  16. last — to go on
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mine — for digging
  19. deal — to handle
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. wax — to grow
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. cell — in biology

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