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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — to breed
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. bank — of a river
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cold — an illness
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. race — humankind
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — to crush
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — for money
  23. mate — a friend
  24. wax — to grow

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