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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. spell — magic
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wax — to grow
  8. spell — a short time
  9. prune — to trim
  10. sharp — clever
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. spell — letters
  13. prune — to trim
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. bound — tied together
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bound — certain
  22. cold — not warm
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bound — obliged

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