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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wound — an injury
  5. staff — a stick
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. kid — child
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wax — to grow
  10. clip — a video
  11. bound — tied together
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — a country
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kid — to tease
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. staff — employees
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bound — certain
  22. staff — employees
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. clip — for paper

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